Medium · State Prison · Iowa DOC

Fort Dodge Correctional Facility

Fort Dodge, Webster County, Iowa

Visiting schedules change without notice. Always call before traveling.

Call Visiting Office: (515) 574-4700 Info last verified: June 2026

A medium-security men's prison in Fort Dodge with a structured reentry and transition program.

Statewide rules that apply at Iowa DOC prisons

These rules are set by Iowa DOC and apply at every unit. The full list — including all permitted and prohibited items and the approval process — is in Visiting in Iowa.

Dress code

Dress modestly — Iowa facilities enforce a visiting dress code that bars revealing, sheer, or provocative clothing, gang-related items, and anything resembling what incarcerated individuals or staff wear.
Each facility may turn away a visitor who is dressed out of code, and electronics are not allowed inside, so confirm the specific facility's rules before traveling.

ID: Every visitor must be on the incarcerated individual's approved visiting list before visiting — applications go by mail to the Centralized Visiting Authority at the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility, and the list is capped at six approved visitors plus immediate family. Bring a government-issued photo ID to each visit.
What to bring: Bring only what the facility allows — most personal items are not permitted in the visiting room. Money for an incarcerated individual's account is sent through Access Corrections, JPay, or Western Union, never handed over at a visit.
Scheduling: Iowa has no single statewide online scheduler — once a visitor is approved, in-person and video visits are scheduled per facility through the Ameelio Connect app, and each institution offers visiting at least four days a week. Men enter the system at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center (Coralville); women at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women (Mitchellville).

Full statewide rules: Visiting in Iowa

Overview

Fort Dodge Correctional Facility (FDCF) is a medium-security state prison for men operated by the Iowa Department of Corrections. It is in Fort Dodge, the seat of Webster County, in north-central Iowa, and opened in 1998. It holds a general population of incarcerated individuals rather than serving as a reception or medical center.

The Iowa DOC assigns custody level based on factors that include sentence length, time remaining, and conduct, and a person’s custody level can change during incarceration. The custody class and housing assignment held at a given prison affect visiting arrangements, so families confirm the arrangement that applies to the specific person before a first visit.

What Makes FDCF Different

FDCF is a general medium-security men’s prison. Its notable program is RIVERS — Redirecting Individual Values, Energy, Relationships, and Skills — a structured reentry and transition program that runs roughly five months. The facility offers additional treatment and programming as well. Newly sentenced adult men do not enter the Iowa system here; statewide men’s reception and classification is handled at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville, and people are assigned to FDCF or another prison after intake.

Visiting

The statewide Iowa DOC rules — the approved visitor list, the dress code, ID, and item limits — apply at FDCF. The facility’s own arrangements:

Getting There and Parking

FDCF is at 1550 L St in Fort Dodge, in Webster County in north-central Iowa. Fort Dodge is reached by way of U.S. Highways 20 and 169. The nearest large commercial airport is Des Moines International Airport to the south.

Parking is on site. Visitors confirm current entry procedures, the visitor-processing location, and what may be brought onto the grounds with the facility before arriving, because electronic devices and personal items are generally not permitted inside.

Nearby Services

Fort Dodge has lodging and dining, with additional options in the surrounding Webster County communities and a wider range in the Des Moines metro area to the south. Emergency medical care is available locally, with larger hospitals in Des Moines. Visitors traveling a long distance generally find the most options for fuel, food, and overnight stays in Fort Dodge and along the U.S. Highway 20 corridor.

Phone and Video

Iowa DOC uses Ameelio, a nonprofit communications provider, across its prisons for voice calls, video calls, and electronic messaging. Ameelio describes its services as free to families. Video visits are scheduled through the Ameelio Connect app, which is mobile-only; visitors download the app, create and verify an account, add the incarcerated contact, and wait for DOC approval before scheduling. See the Phone & Video Calls guide for account setup and how Ameelio works.

Mail

Iowa does not deliver friends-and-family mail to the prison. Personal mail goes off-site to a vendor, Pigeonly, at a central processing center in Las Vegas, Nevada, which scans each item and sends a copy to the facility. Mail sent directly to an Iowa prison is returned to the sender.

Personal mail must be addressed to the incarcerated individual with the facility’s numeric Facility ID code at the Pigeonly address. Because the Facility ID code is required and not all codes are published, confirm the exact current address and FDCF’s code before sending anything. The Mail & Packages guide has the full Pigeonly address and addressing instructions.

Legal and privileged mail goes directly to the facility, not to Pigeonly. Verify the current mailing rules before sending anything.

Learn More

For detailed information about visiting and communicating with someone at an Iowa prison:

Visiting in Iowa — approval process, dress code, scheduling
Mail & Packages — what you can send and what gets rejected
Phone & Video Calls — accounts, call costs, video visits
Sending Money — how to add funds to an account
Medical & Mental Health — health care in Iowa prisons
Transfers — what happens during transfers

Sources

This page is compiled from the following publicly available sources. Policies change without notice — confirm current details with the facility before relying on them.