Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility

A privately run CoreCivic prison in the Mississippi Delta that holds men for Vermont, Montana, Wyoming, and other jurisdictions — not Mississippi state inmates — under CoreCivic's own rules.

Overview

The Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility is a private prison in the Mississippi Delta, owned and operated by CoreCivic since it opened in 2000. It is not part of the Mississippi state prison system: the men held here are serving sentences for other states and jurisdictions, not for the Mississippi Department of Corrections. It houses men under contract for several jurisdictions, most relevant to families being Vermont, which has sent men here since 2018 (about 130 as of late 2025), and Montana (about 600). Wyoming, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and two Mississippi counties also hold people here.

For families, the defining fact is the split in authority: the home state’s corrections department decides who may visit and runs the approval, while CoreCivic sets the visiting schedule, the dress code, and the conduct rules at the facility. Both have to line up before a visit happens.

Getting Approved to Visit

Approval starts with the home state. For Vermont families, the incarcerated person submits a Vermont-specific visiting request form to the case manager at Tallahatchie; it is sent to Vermont, approved by the person’s Vermont caseworker, and entered in Vermont’s system. The list holds up to 10 names, can be changed every 60 days, and the address on a visitor’s photo ID must match the address on the list. Montana and Wyoming families follow their own state’s process.

The facility handles the visit itself: confirm a visit by calling (662) 345-6567 ext. 24001. U.S. Marshals visits must be arranged at least seven days ahead. Approval or denial is sent to the incarcerated person, who passes it to the visitor.

Visiting Days and Rules

Because Mississippi’s statewide rules do not apply here, the make-or-break rules are CoreCivic’s own (from its January 2026 visitation information):

The dress code bans whole colors — no blue, yellow, gray, lime-green, or red-and-white clothing — along with blue jeans, spandex, short pants, tank or halter tops, see-through clothing, underwire bras, and open-toe shoes; dresses and skirts must fall below the knee. Physical contact is limited to a brief embrace and a two-second kiss at the start and end, with hand-holding on top of the table; the incarcerated person is strip-searched after a visit. Visitors are pat-searched, and vehicles are subject to random search.

Phone, Video, and Mail

Communication runs on ViaPath’s GettingOut tablet system, not the Mississippi state vendor. The incarcerated person sends an invitation to connect; from there, families can take calls, exchange messages, and hold tablet video visits — the option that matters most given the distance. Montana publishes its people’s rates as 6 cents a minute for calls and 25 cents for messages and per minute of video; rates for other states’ people may differ, so confirm in the GettingOut account. Packages are ordered through Access Catalog (accesscatalog.com). Mail goes to the facility’s street address with the person’s name, ID number, and housing location.

Getting There and Parking

Tutwiler sits in the Delta on U.S. Highway 49, with no nearby commercial airport and no public transit — a private or rental vehicle is effectively required.

Distances are approximate, based on map routing. The facility directs visitors to any available parking space.

Nearby Services

Clarksdale, about 15 miles north, is the nearest town with hotels, gas, and food; Batesville, on Interstate 55, is another lodging base about 40 miles east. Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center at 1970 Hospital Drive in Clarksdale runs a 24-hour emergency room — (662) 627-3211 — the closest open ER to the facility.

Learn More

Because this facility holds people for other states, the relevant home-state guides apply, not Mississippi’s. For Vermont families:

• Visiting in Vermont — Vermont’s visitor-approval process
• Transfers in Vermont — how and why Vermont houses men in Mississippi
• Phone & Video Calls in Vermont — Vermont’s communication system

Families of Montana or Wyoming residents should use their own state’s corrections department for approval and policies; the visiting schedule, dress code, and tablet system above apply to everyone held here.