Michigan Inmate Search

The Michigan Department of Correction is responsible on keeping records of those who are serving time in Michigan state prisons. The department of corrections uses OTIS. OTIS is a database with information given from the department of corrections, the courts, and state police.

Only offenders that have either in jail or under Michigan Department of Corrections supervision in the past 3 years will appear in OTIS. Those who have was incarcerated or under Michigan Department of Corrections supervision more than 3 years ago, will not be available for the public or in OTIS.

If you see incorrect information, you can contact the Michigan Department of Corrections at 517-373-6391.

When an offender is housed in a state prison, they are the property of the Department of Corrections Division. As stated above every state’s Department of Corrections Division has their own jail roster or database that the general public may use.

The Michigan Department of Corrections offender search database can be found on the official Michigan Department of Corrections website.

You can search the inmate list by using the following pieces of information:

• Last Name
• First Name
• MDOC Number
• Sex
• Race
• Age
• Offender Status
• Marks, Scars, and Tattoos

The MDOC number will take precedence during all searches. The MDOC is a six-digit number. All incoming inmates will be assigned their MDOC number by the Michigan Department of Corrections. This will be the easiest and quickest way to locate an inmate.

If you decide to enter their MDOC number in the field provided, you will NOT need to enter their first and last name. However, the MDOC field will only show results for the EXACT number you have entered, so you will want to double check, if no results pop up.

If you don’t know the inmate’s MDOC number or there are no search results for the MDOC number you plugged in, the next thing you can do is search by the inmate’s first and last name.

When you finally get some search results, you will see a list of all inmates that fit the criteria you plugged in. This is not a release search. All inmates are currently sitting behind bars.

You will see the following pieces of information in the Michigan jails inmate search:

• MDOC Number
• Last Name
• First Name
• Date of Birth
• Sex
• Race
• MCL Number
• Status
• Parole Board Jurisdiction Date
• Maximum Date
• Date Paroled

You can click on the inmate’s name to bring up their own personal file. When you do this, you will see the following information:

• Mugshots
• Inmate Name
• MDOC Number
• SID Number
• Racial Identification
• Gender
• Hair Color
• Eye Color
• Height
• Weight
• Date of Birth
• Image Date
• MDOC Status
• Aliases
• Marks, Scars, and Tattoos
• Prison Sentences

As we stated above, the only prisons you will be able to find in the Michigan inmate search are state-operated facilities. All city and county jails are NOT in this database whatsoever. 

In the state of Michigan, there are 60 state prisons. These prisons are available in the above database. All other prisons that are not listed below will NOT come up in the roster. Keep this in mind when searching for an inmate in the Michigan prison inmate lookup database brought to you by the Michigan Department of Corrections. 

Looking for who’s in jail in city and county jails will be more difficult than trying to find out who’s in jail in a state or a federal prison. There is typically not much information on these smaller jails. A lot of city jails do not even supply an inmate database to the general public. However, it is not impossible to locate an inmate in one of those facilities, if you know exactly who to seek out with your questions. 

As far as county jails, the majority of county jails will be managed and operated by that county’s Sheriff’s department. They will be the agency, you should reach out to if you believe the person you are looking for is in a county jail. 

As far as city jails, the majority of city jails do not have much information about them. They are typically just holding pens for inmates to be transferred out to their “permanent” jail. If you believe the person you are looking for is in a city jail, it is best to contact that cities corrections division. You can typically find all department information on the city’s official website.

The Michigan Department of Corrections offender search database is updated regularly. It is typically updated during normal business hours. You will notice that the inmate’s information can change quite frequently. Especially, if they have court proceedings and such.

If you have any questions or want to have the updated information, you will be required to contact the facility that the inmate is in. They will have the utmost updated information available on the inmate.

If you believe the information on an inmate is incorrect, you will want to contact the facility in which the inmate is held to dispute the information.

In the jail roster, you will also find the inmate’s mugshot. This mugshot is taken when an inmate is being booked and processed into a state prison. The mugshots typically do not change unless an inmate is getting transferred into another state prison facility.

You can also use the VINELink (VINE) to get notifications on the inmate’s moving throughout the system. You will need to select the state of Michigan. You will then want to select that you are searching for an offender or a defendant.

You will need to click the notification section of the inmate’s profile to get notified through text, calls, or email. When they make any changes to their VINE account, you’ll get notified in real-time.

You may notice that there is not a way to search for sex offenders in the Michigan inmate search. That’s because the sex offender search is in a whole different database. Just like the OTIS Michigan database this database is available to the general public to use also.

The sex offender database can be found on the official Michigan State Police website.

You can search this database by the following pieces of information:

• First Name
• Last Name
• City
• County
• Zip Code

Keep in mind that you will be able to search the database by either the offender's name or the address fields.

This offender search is strictly for offenders that are NOT in state prison. These offenders are out on their own in the community.

When you do a successful search, you will see the following information:

• Mugshots
• Offender Name
• Registration Number
• Aliases
• Level
• Status
• Last Verification Date
• Registration Start Date
• Registration End Date
• Lifetime Registration
• Age
• Sex
• Race
• Height
• Weight
• Hair Color
• Eye Color
• Scars, Marks, and Tattoos
• Address
• Charges