Michigan has 26 state prisons in operation, spread across the Lower and Upper Peninsulas and run by the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC). Together they held roughly 32,778 prisoners at the end of 2024, in facilities that range from minimum-security camps to maximum-security units with administrative segregation.1Michigan Department of Corrections. Prison Population Projection Report March 2025
The 26 Michigan State Prisons by Location
The current MDOC facilities are:2Michigan Department of Corrections. Michigan Department of Corrections – Prisons
- Alger Correctional Facility — Munising
- Baraga Correctional Facility — Baraga
- Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility — Ionia
- Carson City Correctional Facility — Carson City
- Central Michigan Correctional Facility — St. Louis
- Charles E. Egeler Reception and Guidance Center — Jackson
- Chippewa Correctional Facility — Kincheloe
- Cooper Street Correctional Facility — Jackson
- Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility — Muskegon
- G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility — Jackson
- Gus Harrison Correctional Facility — Adrian
- Ionia Correctional Facility — Ionia
- Kinross Correctional Facility — Kincheloe
- Lakeland Correctional Facility — Coldwater
- Macomb Correctional Facility — New Haven
- Marquette Branch Prison — Marquette
- Muskegon Correctional Facility — Muskegon
- Newberry Correctional Facility — Newberry
- Oaks Correctional Facility — Manistee
- Parnall Correctional Facility — Jackson
- Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility — Ionia
- Saginaw Correctional Facility — Freeland
- St. Louis Correctional Facility — St. Louis
- Thumb Correctional Facility — Lapeer
- Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility — Ypsilanti
- Woodland Center Correctional Facility — Whitmore Lake
Cities With More Than One Prison
A handful of Michigan cities carry a disproportionate share of the state’s prison footprint. Jackson has four facilities, including the Charles E. Egeler Reception and Guidance Center, which processes newly sentenced prisoners before they are transferred to a permanent assignment. Ionia has three. Kincheloe, in the Upper Peninsula, has two. St. Louis and Muskegon each have two as well.
Security Levels Across the System
Michigan classifies prisoners using a scored system that places each person at Level I (the least restrictive), Level II, Level IV, Level V, or administrative segregation (the most restrictive).3Michigan Department of Corrections. Policy Directive 05.01.130 – Prisoner Security Classification Most facilities on the list above are multi-level, meaning a single prison may run a Level I yard and a Level II yard side by side. A prisoner’s score is recalculated periodically, so good conduct can lead to a transfer to a lower-security facility over time.
The One Women’s Prison
Of the 26 facilities, only one holds women. Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti serves the entire female state prison population and therefore operates at multiple security levels (I, II, and IV) and houses the reception center, residential treatment, acute mental health care, and the Special Alternative Incarceration boot camp for women in one place.4Michigan Department of Corrections. Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility (WHV)
Prisons Michigan Has Closed
If you have seen a higher count elsewhere, it may be based on an older list. Michigan’s prison count has shrunk as the incarcerated population has declined. Mound Correctional Facility in Detroit closed on January 8, 2012.5Michigan Department of Corrections. Mound Correctional Facility (NRF) – Closed Michigan Reformatory in Ionia closed on November 13, 2022.6Michigan Department of Corrections. Michigan Reformatory (RMI) – Closed
Federal, Immigration, and County Facilities Are Separate
The 26 count covers state prisons only. The federal government operates Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Milan in southeastern Michigan through the Bureau of Prisons for people convicted of federal crimes.7Federal Bureau of Prisons. FCI Milan Michigan also hosts the North Lake Processing Center, an immigration detention facility run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And each of Michigan’s 83 counties runs its own jail under the county sheriff, holding people awaiting trial, serving misdemeanor sentences, or waiting to be transferred to a state prison after a felony conviction. None of these are MDOC facilities.
Finding Someone in a Michigan Prison
To find out which of the 26 prisons currently holds a specific person, use the MDOC’s Offender Tracking Information System (OTIS). The free online search returns the facility, the earliest release date, and other public record details, and records remain available for three years after discharge from MDOC supervision.8Michigan Department of Corrections. Offender Tracking Information System (OTIS)