Minimum, medium, and close custody (men); special-needs/mental-health mission · Private Prison (MTC, MDOC contract) · MDOC

East Mississippi Correctional Facility

Meridian, Lauderdale County, Mississippi

Visiting schedules change without notice. Always call before traveling.

Call Visiting Office: (601) 485-5255 Info last verified: June 2026

A privately operated prison near Meridian that holds Mississippi state inmates and serves as the state's designated facility for men with serious mental illness.

Statewide rules that apply at every MDOC state prison

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

Dress code

Shirts and closed outdoor shoes required; underwear required (a bra for women). No tank, crop, sleeveless, or strapless tops, spaghetti straps, or bare midriffs.
Nothing see-through, overly tight, or revealing — no yoga pants, leggings, spandex, hip-huggers, jogging or biking shorts, mini-skirts, or cutoffs.
Shorts must reach the knee; skirts and dresses no shorter than one inch above the knee, with no slit above the knee when seated.
No hats or head coverings except for religious reasons; jewelry limited to a wedding ring, a religious medallion, and a medical-alert bracelet — no body-piercing jewelry.
The dress code applies to children too, and a violation turns the visit away and can carry a one-year visiting suspension.

ID: Visitors 18 and older present a valid government photo ID (driver's license, state ID, or passport). Ages 16-17 need a photo ID showing date of birth; children 15 and under bring a legible birth certificate.
What to bring: No phones, wallets, purses, tobacco, or cash inside — leave them locked in the vehicle. Visits are cashless, with prepaid vending cards sold in the visit area; one infant diaper bag is allowed (up to 4 diapers, 2 bottles, a change of clothes, a pacifier, and wipes).
Scheduling: The incarcerated person starts the visitor application — forms come only from them, never online — lists up to 10 visitors, and tells visitors the days and rules. Up to 5 visitors per visit; frequency runs by custody level (about four times a month at minimum custody down to once a month at close custody). MDOC posts no schedules, so confirm days and hours with the facility.

Full statewide rules: Visiting in Mississippi

Overview

East Mississippi Correctional Facility, west of Meridian, is a prison that holds Mississippi state inmates but is operated by a private company, Management & Training Corporation (MTC), under contract with MDOC. Its defining role is as the state’s designated facility for men with serious mental illness: it was built to provide psychiatric care to prisoners at all custody levels, and a large share of the men held there have a mental-health diagnosis. It opened in 1999 and holds about 1,287 men (September 2025).

What Makes East Mississippi Different

It is the state’s designated prison for men with serious mental illness, so many people are housed here specifically because they need psychiatric care.
It is privately operated (by MTC) under MDOC contract, so visiting specifics may differ from a state-run prison.
It holds men at all custody levels — minimum through close custody.
It has been the subject of major conditions litigation (see below).

Conditions and Oversight

East Mississippi was the subject of a federal class-action lawsuit, Dockery v. Hall (originally Dockery v. Epps), filed in 2013 by the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of prisoners, alleging inadequate mental-health and medical care, overuse of solitary confinement, violence, and unsanitary conditions. After a five-week trial in 2018, the court ruled for the state in December 2019, finding that the conditions alleged when the suit was filed no longer amounted to constitutional violations. Families raising a medical or safety concern can use the channels in Medical & Mental Health.

Visiting

The statewide MDOC rules — the inmate-initiated application, the approved list, the dress code, ID, and screening — are the baseline at East Mississippi. But because it is privately operated, MDOC directs families to the facility to confirm visiting arrangements: no visiting days or hours are posted, so call (601) 485-5255 to confirm the schedule and that the person is approved. The full statewide approval process is in Visiting in Mississippi.

Getting There and Parking

The prison is on U.S. Highway 80 west of Meridian, about 90 miles east of Jackson off Interstate 20.

Distances are approximate, based on map routing. There is no public transit to the facility.

Nearby Services

Meridian has the area’s gas, food, and lodging. The nearest 24-hour emergency rooms are in Meridian — Ochsner Rush Medical Center and Baptist Anderson Regional Medical Center, both trauma centers.

Mail

Mail to a person at East Mississippi follows MDOC’s process: addressed with the person’s committed name and MDOC number. Mississippi photocopies incoming personal mail rather than delivering the originals; full addressing details and what is accepted are in Mail & Packages.

Learn More

For detailed information about visiting and communicating with someone in a Mississippi prison:

Visiting in Mississippi — the application, dress code, and custody-level visiting
Mail & Packages — the photocopy system and addressing mail
Phone & Video Calls — the ViaPath phone and tablet system
Sending Money — depositing to a spending account
Medical & Mental Health — healthcare and raising a concern
Transfers — intake, classification, and finding someone

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.