Minimum, medium, and close (higher) custody (men) · Private Prison (MTC, MDOC contract) · MDOC

Wilkinson County Correctional Facility

Woodville, Wilkinson County, Mississippi

Visiting schedules change without notice. Always call before traveling.

Call Visiting Office: (601) 888-3199 Info last verified: June 2026

A privately operated higher-security prison in Woodville, in far southwest Mississippi, that holds Mississippi state inmates in close custody.

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

Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, in Woodville in the far southwest corner of the state, holds Mississippi state inmates but is operated by a private company, Management & Training Corporation (MTC), under MDOC contract. It opened in 1998 and was converted to a higher-security prison in 2010, taking on close-custody men after Mississippi closed the Unit 32 maximum-security unit at Parchman. It holds about 900 men (September 2025) in minimum, medium, and close custody.

What Makes Wilkinson County Different

It is a higher-security (close-custody) prison, so many people are housed here based on a higher custody classification, and visits are more likely to be non-contact.
It is privately operated (by MTC) under MDOC contract, so visiting specifics may differ from a state-run prison.
It took on much of the state’s higher-custody population after Parchman’s Unit 32 closed in 2010.
It has been the subject of reporting and oversight over violence and understaffing (see below).

Conditions and Oversight

Wilkinson County has been the subject of news reporting and oversight scrutiny over violence and staffing shortages, including documented homicides and a 2018 internal audit (reported by The Marshall Project) that found severe understaffing. As with all higher-security facilities, families raising a safety or medical concern can use the channels in Medical & Mental Health. Conditions and staffing change over time.

Visiting

The statewide MDOC rules — the inmate-initiated application, the approved list, the dress code, ID, and screening — are the baseline at Wilkinson County. Because it is privately operated and higher-security, MDOC directs families to the facility to confirm arrangements: no visiting days or hours are posted, and higher-custody visits may be non-contact, so call (601) 888-3199 to confirm. The full statewide approval process is in Visiting in Mississippi.

Getting There and Parking

Woodville is in the far southwest corner of Mississippi, on U.S. Highway 61 near the Louisiana line.

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

Nearby Services

Woodville is small; Natchez to the north and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to the south have the nearest full range of gas, food, and lodging. The nearest hospital is in Centreville, but its emergency-room status has been uncertain recently, so confirm it is open before relying on it; larger 24-hour emergency rooms are in the Natchez and Baton Rouge areas.

Mail

Mail to a person at Wilkinson County goes to P.O. Box 1119, Woodville, MS 39669 and 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.