Maximum · State Prison · Iowa DOC

Iowa State Penitentiary

Fort Madison, Lee County, Iowa

Visiting schedules change without notice. Always call before traveling.

Call Visiting Office: (319) 372-5432 Info last verified: June 2026

Iowa's maximum-security men's prison in Fort Madison, the state's oldest, rebuilt in a new facility that opened in 2015.

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

Iowa State Penitentiary (ISP) is the state’s primary maximum-security prison for men, operated by the Iowa Department of Corrections. It is in Fort Madison, in Lee County in the far southeastern corner of the state. ISP is Iowa’s oldest prison: the historic facility dates to 1839, and it is often cited as the oldest prison west of the Mississippi River.

A new ISP facility opened in 2015, replacing the 19th-century prison, and the maximum-security men’s population was transferred to the new building. The Iowa DOC assigns a custody level based on factors that include sentence length and conduct, and a custody level can change during incarceration, so families confirm the arrangement that applies to a specific incarcerated individual before a first visit.

What Makes Iowa State Penitentiary Different

ISP is the state’s oldest prison and its primary maximum-security institution for men. Its origins date to 1839, predating Iowa’s statehood, and the historic prison operated for more than a century and a half before the current facility opened in 2015. ISP is a general-population maximum-security prison; it is not a reception, medical, or reentry center. Iowa has no death penalty, so there is no death row at ISP or at any Iowa prison.

Visiting

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

Getting There and Parking

ISP is at 2111 330th Ave in Fort Madison, in Lee County in the far southeastern corner of Iowa, along the Mississippi River near the Illinois and Missouri borders. 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 the visiting area.

Communication

Iowa contracts with Ameelio, a nonprofit, to provide phone calls, video calls, and electronic messaging across the state’s prisons, including ISP. According to the Iowa DOC and Ameelio, these services are offered to families free of charge. Video calls are scheduled through the Ameelio Connect app after a visitor is approved. Families confirm current account setup and any costs through the official sources before relying on them, because the details can change.

Mail

Iowa does not deliver personal mail to the prison. Incoming personal mail is routed off-site to a private vendor, Pigeonly, in Las Vegas, Nevada, which opens and scans each item and sends a copy to the facility. Mail sent directly to ISP is returned to the sender. Legal mail goes directly to the facility, not to Pigeonly.

Each Iowa facility has a numeric Facility ID code that must appear on the envelope; ISP’s Pigeonly Facility ID code is 1110. For the exact Pigeonly address and the full addressing format, including how to include the incarcerated individual’s ID number and the facility code, see the Mail guide. 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.