Visiting in Michigan (MDOC)

Getting on the visiting list

The prisoner builds a Visitor List (CAJ-334) naming immediate family, clergy, attorneys, and up to ten other people. Each person who wants to visit then files an MDOC Visiting Application (CAJ-103) — submitted electronically through the state’s MiLogin portal or by mail to the facility (facilities will not mail an application to you). Approval is required before a first visit, so apply well ahead.

Eligibility rules to know: a former MDOC prisoner generally cannot visit unless they are an immediate family member approved by the warden; a person on felony parole or probation generally cannot visit unless they are immediate family with both warden and supervising-agent approval; a visitor must be 18 or older unless they qualify as a minor relative. A person may be on every immediate family member’s list but on only one non-family prisoner’s list. A denied applicant can ask the warden to reconsider.

Minors: a person under 18 may be on the list only if they are the prisoner’s child, stepchild, grandchild, or sibling, and must be accompanied by their legal guardian or an adult immediate family member who is on the prisoner’s list.

What to wear

Michigan’s dress code does not ban particular colors, but it does require visitors to be fully dressed in clean clothing, with undergarments — including a bra for anyone with breast tissue — and footwear. Not allowed:

• See-through clothing, tube or halter tops, or anything that exposes a lot of skin (abdomen, chest, back, or thigh).
• Skirts, dresses, and shorts more than three inches above the knee, and no shorts of any kind.
• Extreme form-fitting outer clothing — yoga pants, tights, jeggings, unitards — or anything that exposes undergarments.
• Hooded garments, coats, jackets, gloves, and sunglasses in the visiting room (blazers, suit coats, and sweaters are fine). Jewelry is limited to about ten pieces; religious head coverings are allowed but may be searched.

Children 14 and under must be covered from the neck to the knees. A first-time visitor who arrives out of dress code may be given a smock and allowed to visit once; after that, a non-compliant outfit means no visit unless the visitor changes.

What you can bring

The list of what a visitor may carry into the visiting room is short and exact: a locker key, the visitor pass, a photo ID, and a prepaid MDOC vending card (up to $30 per person; a party of two or more may carry two cards). No cash. Limited infant items are allowed when a baby is on the visit. Cell phones and other electronics are prohibited — giving a phone to a prisoner is a felony — and lockers are provided in the lobby for everything else.

Scheduling and how often

All visits are by appointment through the ViaPath scheduler (midoc.gtlvisitme.com/app); there are no walk-ins. Book at least 48 hours and no more than 7 days ahead, arrive about 30 minutes early, and note that arriving more than an hour late can cancel the visit and that a no-show counts against the prisoner’s monthly visit allowance. Days and hours are set by each facility, but the length is statewide — up to three hours on weekdays, two hours on weekends. How many visits a prisoner may have each month depends on their security level (for example, eight a month at Level I down to four at Level V). There are no personal visits during the multi-month intake period after a person first arrives.

Contact, non-contact, and video visits

• Contact visits allow a brief embrace and one kiss at the start and end, plus hand-holding.
• Non-contact visits apply to prisoners at Level V, in segregation, or in a security-threat-group unit.
• Video visits run through ViaPath, scheduled on the same site as in-person visits, at about $3.20 for a 20-minute call. They supplement in-person visiting rather than replace it, and (except attorney visits) are recorded. Michigan has no conjugal or extended-family visit program.

Verify Before Acting

For the general, nationwide overview of this topic, see the national guide: Visiting Basics.