The facility opened in 2001. The first 25 inmates to occupy the facility were scheduled to arrive at FDC Honolulu on July 31 of that year; previously they were held in facilities in the
Mainland United States. The first five groups, each consisting of 25 inmates, were made up of inmates within their final two years of their federal prison sentences. FDC Honolulu relieved the Oahu Community Correctional Center, operated by the
Hawaii Department of Public Safety. As of June 2001, the Oahu Community Correctional Center, designed to hold 1,000 pretrial inmates, held 1,150 pretrial inmates. The first pretrial inmates from Hawaii were scheduled to move into the federal center one month after the first five groups of 25 convicted inmates had arrived. As of 2016, the Hawaii State Legislature has expressed an interest in acquiring FDC Honolulu. ==Notable inmates (current and former)==