Mississippi Inmate Search

The Mississippi prison system operates various types of facilities, ranging from correctional facilities to restitution centers, community work centers, and technical violation centers. These facilities are all managed and run by the state's Department of Corrections (MDOC), and they include seven state correctional facilities and 15 regional correctional facilities. The Mississippi Department of Corrections also oversees seven community work centers, two technical violation centers, and three restitution centers. The state currently has two private correctional facilities and at least 81 county jails spread across 82 counties. Three out of the seven state-run prisons in the state house female inmates. The incarceration rate in Mississippi currently stands at 661 persons per 100,000 total population.

Mississippi Inmate SearchPrison in Mississippi
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According to the Mississippi Department of Corrections, the state's correctional system includes 7 state prisons, 15 regional facilities, 81 county jails, and 2 private facilities. The system also includes 7 community work centers, 2 technical violation centers, and 3 restitution centers. The state has an incarceration rate of 661 per 100,000 residents, with 3 female-only facilities among the state prisons.

Mississippi Department Corrections Inmate Search

The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) protects and champions public safety within the state through effective custody and control of persons convicted of felony crimes. It also runs educational, treatment, and vocational programs that allow inmates who desire to succeed to learn tangible skills. The department does all of these using credible constitutional standards and correctional principles. Furthermore, the Mississippi Department of Corrections is responsible for keeping and maintaining incarceration records of inmates held in state prisons.

The Inmate Search system managed by the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) provides an avenue for anyone to find inmates incarcerated in state correctional facilities. Members of the public may conduct this search using inmates' names or their ID numbers. A typical Mississippi Department of Corrections inmate search will return key information about an inmate, including their full name, location of incarceration, offense, and term.

Depending on the search parameter used, an inmate search may return multiple results for incarceration records that match the search criteria. When this happens, the person looking up a record will have to look closely to find the exact record being sought and click the "view" tab for additional information on that inmate.

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Find Inmate by Name

Finding an inmate by name in Mississippi using the Offender Search system is easy. Enter the inmate's first or last name, or both, in the relevant field and click the "Search" button. While providing both names will help facilitate a better and faster search, it is also possible to search with part of the inmate's name. For instance, if an inmate's last name is known but the person looking up that inmate is not sure about their first name, they may enter a part of the first name in the appropriate field before sending the query.

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Find Inmate by Number

This is the best way to find any inmate incarcerated in a Mississippi state correctional facility. Typically, the search will hit the only record associated with the search parameter - the MDOC ID number, which is unique to each inmate or offender.

What Information is Contained in a Mississippi Inmate Record?

A typical inmate record in Mississippi contains the following information or details:

  • The Inmate's Name - The first, middle, and last name of the inmate
  • Mugshot - The inmate's photograph
  • The Inmate's MDOC ID Number - This is a unique six-digit number assigned by the Mississippi Department of Corrections to differentiate them from other inmates
  • Race - The racial origin of the inmate
  • Sex - The inmate's gender specification
  • Date of Birth - The inmate's birth date
  • Physical Descriptors - These include the inmate's weight, height, build, hair color, eye color, and complexion
  • Entry Date - The date the inmate was committed to a correctional facility within the state's prison system
  • Location - The name and location of the correctional facility in which the inmate is housed
  • Location Change - This indicates if there has ever been a location change since the inmate's incarceration and typically specifies the date of movement
  • Number of Sentences - This specifies the number of sentences the inmate is serving
  • Total Length - This is the total number of years the inmate is expected to be held in a correctional facility, subject to the number of sentences being served
  • Offense - This specifies the offense for which the inmate was sentenced and often includes the sentence length for each offense, the county of conviction, and the sentence date. Note that an inmate may be serving prison terms for multiple offenses concurrently
  • Tentative Release Date - This is the potential date the inmate may be scheduled for release from a correctional facility

Mississippi Inmate Records by Counties

Records of inmates housed at the county jails in Mississippi are generally kept and maintained by the county sheriff's offices. However, such inmate records may sometimes be found on the state's Department of Corrections' Offender Search system even though they are largely maintained separately from state-level prison records and are mostly accessible at the county level.

The county sheriff's offices are the chief custodians of inmate records maintained at the county level. For example, the Jackson County Sheriff's Department has an Inmate Lookup, an online resource that lists details of the most recent and least recent inmates housed at the county jail. This resource allows users to sort/filter by inmates' last or first names. Similarly, the Lee County Sheriff's Department Inmate Search provides a roster of all inmates currently housed at the county's detention center.

Are Incarceration Records Public Information in Mississippi?

Yes, incarceration records in Mississippi are public records/information. Per the state's Public Record Act (1983), public records maintained by public bodies, including those maintained by the Mississippi Department of Corrections, are public documents/records or property. They may be accessed by members of the public unless they contain information specifically exempt from disclosure by law. Typically, details of an inmate's financial information, medical treatment, Social Security number, and other similar sensitive details are often redacted from Mississippi inmate records before disclosure. This is to ensure the protection of inmates' personal privacy and confidential information.

Federal Prisons in Mississippi

The federal prisons in Mississippi are where individuals sentenced for violating federal laws within the state serve their punishment/prison terms. These correctional facilities are operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and funded by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), an agency of the federal government. Generally, under the United States prison system, people are sentenced to federal prisons for committing crimes such as drug trafficking, immigration crimes, crimes against federal property, racketeering, and white-collar crimes. Others include crimes against federal officers, crimes committed on federal land, weapons violations, online crimes, and other interstate crimes.

Generally, federal correctional facilities in the United States operate at various security levels to accommodate different offenders based on the severity of their crimes. These include minimum, low, medium, high, and administrative security levels. Medium-security-level federal prisons are typically known as Federal Correctional Institutions (FCIs), while minimum-security federal correctional facilities are called Federal Prison Camps (FPCs). Federal prisons designated as United States Penitentiaries (USPs) are largely high security-level correctional facilities. Inmates serving time in Mississippi federal correctional facilities are generally less violent and cannot go on parole.

The table below lists the federal prisons in Mississippi alongside their capacity, security level, and location:

Federal Prison FacilityLocationSecurity LevelCapacity (Average)
United States Penitentiary Yazoo City (USP Yazoo City)Yazoo City, MississippiHigh789 inmates
Federal Correctional Institution Yazoo City Medium (FCI Yazoo City Medium)Yazoo City, MississippiMedium1,345 inmates
Federal Correctional Institution Yazoo City Low (FCI Yazoo City Low)Yazoo City, MississippiLow1,603 inmates
Correctional Institution Adams County (CI Adams County)Natchez, MississippiLow2,109 inmates (Private prison)
Federal Correctional Institution Yazoo City Camp (FCI Yazoo City Camp)Yazoo City, MississippiMinimum146 inmates

Frequently Asked Questions about Inmate Records

Anyone looking to request public records of the Mississippi Department of Corrections may submit a written request, specifying the record they seek, to the department at:

Public records Officer
Mississippi Department of Corrections
301 North Lamar Street
Jackson, MS 39201
Phone: (601) 359-5600

Alternatively, they may submit an online request for a Department of Corrections public record through the Public Records Center , which requires first–time users to create an account and provide as much contact information as possible. Public record requests made through the Public Records Center are sent to users' registered email addresses.

The Inmate Search system of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) is an online repository for state-level inmate records and may be accessed by the public. Similarly, the county sheriff's offices in the state maintain online databases (usually named inmate rosters in most counties) for inmates incarcerated in county jails.

The best place to start the search for any old inmate record in Mississippi is the state's Department of Corrections. Generally, if the department still has the record, they will provide a copy to the requester. Otherwise, they will advise the requester what to do and where to look to obtain such a record. Some historical inmate records in the state may be available at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH). Alternatively, a requester may contact the sheriff's office in the county where an inmate was incarcerated to obtain the person's old incarceration record.

In Mississippi, death records of deceased inmates who died naturally are available at the state's Office of Vital Statistics . However, if an inmate was executed by the state (in cases of high-profile felony offenses), interested persons may obtain the death record by contacting the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

Typically, once an inmate is evaluated in Mississippi, permanent housing is determined for them. Afterward, the inmate's information is entered into the MDOC's Offender Search system. While the entire process of evaluating and placing them in a permanent facility may take between 2 weeks and 45 days, it generally takes some hours to a few days for an inmate's information to appear on the Offender Search.

Family members and friends of inmates in Mississippi can send them money through money transfer services in person and online. While in-person money transfers are allowed through Western Union Agent locations, online money transfers may be sent using Premier Services.