MDOC - South Mississippi Correctional Institution

The South Mississippi Correctional Institution (SMCI) is a Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) state prison on 360 acres outside Leakesville in Greene County, established in 1989 as the department's principal medium- and minimum-custody facility for men in southern Mississippi. SMCI has an authorized capacity of 3,082 beds across 16 housing units and holds men classified as minimum custody, medium custody, and protective custody, plus disciplinary and long-term segregation. It is one of the three main MDOC-operated prisons alongside the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman and the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF) in Pearl, and it was the first prison in Mississippi to earn accreditation from both the American Correctional Association (ACA) and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC). For families in the Gulf Coast region, SMCI is significantly more accessible than Parchman up in the Delta, and this guide covers everything you need to know about visitation, mail, money deposits, phone calls, and the Leakesville setting.

About SMCI and how it fits in MDOC

SMCI opened in 1989 as MDOC's southern-Mississippi complement to Parchman up in the Delta. Where Parchman has always been the state's oldest and largest maximum-security prison, SMCI was designed and has operated primarily as a medium- and minimum-custody institution, which meaningfully changes the daily experience for men housed there and for their families. The 360-acre Leakesville campus in Greene County is roughly two hours from Mobile, Alabama, three hours from New Orleans, and three-plus hours from Jackson — a Gulf Coast accessibility that makes SMCI a comparatively easier prison for southern-Mississippi and Louisiana families to visit than any of the state's other main institutions.

The 16 housing units at SMCI range from general population dorms for medium and minimum custody to specialized units for protective custody, disciplinary detention, high-risk incentive programming, and long-term administrative segregation. Custody classification drives daily rules for visits, movement, and program access, so the first practical thing families should know about a loved one at SMCI is which unit and classification he is on. That information is available through MDOC's inmate locator or by searching on AllRecentArrests.us. Every incarcerated person has an MDOC number that follows him across the state system and is required on every letter, deposit, and visit form.

SMCI's ACA and NCCHC dual accreditation is a meaningful marker — ACA accreditation covers operations, safety, and correctional practices, while NCCHC accreditation covers health-services standards. Both accreditations require ongoing self-monitoring and periodic external audit, and while accreditation is not a guarantee of problem-free operations, it does mean SMCI has committed to a set of national standards that Parchman and some other MDOC facilities have historically struggled to meet. VitalCore Health Strategies provides on-site medical, dental, optometry, clinical, and pharmaceutical services around the clock at SMCI, and the facility has an on-site infirmary for higher-acuity care.

Visitation at SMCI

MDOC visitation runs through pre-approved visitor lists and pre-scheduled visits. To visit an SMCI inmate, you must complete a visitor application, submit it to the prison for a background check, and be added to the incarcerated person's approved list. Approval typically takes several weeks. Once you are on the list, visits follow the facility's posted schedule — SMCI's visiting days and times are typically weekends and observed holidays, but check the MDOC facilities page and call (601) 394-5600 to confirm the current schedule before you travel, since MDOC facilities periodically shift schedules to accommodate staffing.

Bring a valid government-issued photo ID, dress within MDOC's visiting-room rules (no clothing resembling the inmate uniform, no revealing clothing, no gang colors, no open-toed shoes), and expect a search on arrival. Bring only limited cash for vending machines and leave phones and everything else in the car. MDOC has expanded video visitation options through Securus in recent years, which allows remote video visits from home in addition to on-site visits at facilities that offer them; check with SMCI directly for the current video-visit options and how to schedule.

How to send money to an SMCI inmate

MDOC uses Access Corrections' Secure Deposits system for inmate trust deposits at SMCI. You have three practical options: deposit online at accesscorrections.com with a debit or credit card, deposit by phone through Access Corrections' toll-free line, or deposit in person at a participating store location (many CVS and other retailers support Access Corrections). Standard Access Corrections per-transaction fees apply and scale with deposit amount, so consolidating into fewer larger deposits reduces total fees. Balances stay with the incarcerated person across MDOC transfers, so funds are not lost if he is moved from SMCI to another facility.

MDOC has historically also allowed mailed money orders per the current department instructions; always confirm the current deposit-slip requirements and lockbox address before mailing. Our how to send money to an inmate compares the practical trade-offs across providers.

Mail to an SMCI inmate

Personal mail for SMCI inmates goes to Inmate Name and MDOC Number, South Mississippi Correctional Institution, PO Box 1419, Leakesville, MS 39451. Include your full return address; envelopes without one are frequently rejected. Legal mail from an attorney or court, clearly marked as legal correspondence, is opened only in the inmate's presence and should be sent separately from personal letters.

MDOC follows standard prohibited-items rules: no cash, personal checks, stamps, stickers, glitter, glue, tape, staples, paperclips, Polaroids, hardcover books, musical or embellished cards, or anything with electronics. Photocopied or printed photos are typically acceptable. Books and publications generally must come directly from the publisher or an approved online retailer. Our how to send mail to an inmate covers the format and common rejection triggers.

Phone calls and messaging through Securus

Phone service at SMCI is provided through Securus Technologies. Family members set up prepaid AdvanceConnect accounts at securustech.net and register the phone numbers the inmate will call. Mississippi call rates have historically been on the higher end of the national range, though rates have come down modestly under recent contract renegotiations. Securus also offers electronic messaging and video visitation options at MDOC facilities for per-item fees, delivered to the inmate on a tablet or kiosk, which is faster than USPS for text messages. Our guide to calling an inmate covers account setup and cost-management tips.

Medical care, emergencies, and safety concerns

SMCI's on-site health services through VitalCore Health Strategies cover emergency care, infirmary care, dental, optometry, clinical, and pharmaceutical services, and NCCHC accreditation means the health program is externally audited against national standards. For urgent family emergencies such as a death, serious illness, or birth, call SMCI at (601) 394-5600 and ask to be connected to the chaplain's office to relay the message. Keep the MDOC number handy for the call. If you are worried about a loved one's medical care, mental health, or safety inside, contact SMCI directly, keep a written record, and escalate in writing if the initial response is inadequate. External resources for Mississippi prison families include the Mississippi Center for Justice, the ACLU of Mississippi, and legal-aid organizations that specialize in state prison conditions.

Avoiding scams and third-party lookup services

Third-party sites sometimes claim to offer inmate locate services, cheaper phone calls, or expedited deposits for a fee. MDOC's own inmate locator, Access Corrections for deposits, Securus for calls and messaging, and the facility's own mail address are the authoritative and only fully reliable channels. Paying an unfamiliar site for something the system provides directly is a common way families lose money. When guidance online conflicts with what the facility tells you, trust the facility, and confirm anything important by calling (601) 394-5600 first.

Records and staying steady

Keeping the MDOC number, current unit assignment, Access Corrections receipts, Securus phone registration, and any court, parole, or release dates organized in one place carries families through an SMCI sentence with the least added friction. Steady contact through letters, calls, and weekend visits is one of the most valuable things you can offer someone at SMCI, and the shorter drive compared to Parchman means in-person visits are more sustainable for Gulf Coast families.

Air conditioning, and why it is worth asking about

Mississippi began installing air conditioning in inmate housing only recently. The department started the project at Parchman in June 2022, combining its own budget with American Rescue Plan Act funding, and stated the goal of eventually outfitting all of the state's facilities as further funding became available. Whether a particular housing unit has it yet is therefore a real and current question in Mississippi summers, and one the institution can answer directly.

How SMCI compares with the other Mississippi prisons

Because this record is not itself a custody facility, the numbers worth knowing belong to the two that are. The most recent federal jail census, covering 2022, counted them separately:

• Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, Pearl — a rated and design capacity of 3,103
• South Mississippi Correctional Institution, Leakesville — a rated and design capacity of 2,386
• Mississippi State Penitentiary, Parchman — a rated and design capacity of 1,982
• Marshall County Correctional Facility, Holly Springs — a rated and design capacity of 706

Those are reported populations rather than bed counts. SMCI was the second largest of the state-run prisons by population and the most thinly staffed of the three, at 12.4 people per correctional officer against 6.6 at Parchman.

Those are census figures for a single reporting year and are now several years old, so treat them as the scale of each facility rather than a current count. Neither figure describes this record — this address is the hospital, and it holds no one on its own authority.

What records still exist for the South Mississippi Correctional Institution

Closing a prison does not erase its statistical record. The department continues to publish pre-closure reports for this institution, including an annual report covering population, staffing ratios and programmes and inmate-to-officer ratios published per institution.

These are worth knowing about if you are reconstructing a timeline — confirming when someone was held here, what the conditions and population were at the time, or supporting a claim that depends on how the institution was operating. They are statistical rather than individual, so they will not contain a named person's file; for that you need a records request to the department rather than a published report.

Inside the South Mississippi Correctional Institution: how the facility is laid out

The institution sits in Greene County near Leakesville and takes people from the counties of southern Mississippi. That regional role is the point of it: the department built away from Parchman precisely so that people from the south of the state were not all held at the far northern end of it.

Layout matters more than families expect. Which yard or unit someone is assigned to drives their custody level, their program eligibility, and often their visiting schedule — so when you call, having the housing assignment to hand will get you a useful answer faster than the name alone.

What makes the South Mississippi Correctional Institution different

the South Mississippi Correctional Institution does not operate as an ordinary general-population prison. Its designated role is staffing and farm work, and that changes what you should expect from it.

In the department's own reporting this institution held 2,386 people with 193 filled correctional security posts — a ratio of 12.4 people to every officer. Security staff there counts everyone from correctional officer trainees up through sergeants, lieutenants, captains and majors to chiefs of security, deputy wardens and wardens, so it is a generous definition of "officer". Staffing ratios are the single best predictor of the things families notice: whether visiting runs as scheduled, how fast a medical request is seen, and how often a unit is locked down for reasons unrelated to anyone held in it. By the department's own figures that was the thinnest staffing of any of its three state-run prisons. The institution also takes part in the state prison agriculture programme alongside Parchman, though most of the farming happens at Parchman.

If your family member is here for a medical or mental-health reason rather than a custody one, ask specifically which unit they are on. That single answer determines their visiting schedule, their phone access, and who you need to speak to about their care.

What this department operates

The department lists 3 adult institutions. This record is the department itself rather than any one prison, so it has no beds, no visiting room and no warden of its own — which is why the practical details you need always belong to a specific institution, not to headquarters.

The department operates three state-run prisons — Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility at Pearl and the South Mississippi Correctional Institution near Leakesville — alongside eleven regional prisons, six private prisons, seventeen community work centres and four restitution centres. Knowing the list is more useful than it looks: a transfer is announced by institution name, often with no explanation of where that is or how far you will now have to travel.

That distinction matters when you are chasing an answer. Department policy sets the framework — visiting eligibility, approved vendors, grievance procedure — but the schedule, the phone number, and the person who can actually help are all at the institution holding your family member. Start by confirming which prison that is, then work with that facility directly.

Your first steps if a loved one just arrived at SMCI

If someone you love has just been transferred to South Mississippi Correctional Institution, focus first on the essentials: write down their MDOC number and unit assignment, submit a visitor application for approval, set up an Access Corrections account for deposits, register your phone number with Securus for calls, and mail to PO Box 1419, Leakesville, MS 39451 with legal mail clearly marked. As a parole or release date approaches, our guides on life after prison, finding work after prison, and applying for SNAP, Medicaid, and TANF after release cover what comes next. Our guide on expunging or sealing a criminal record covers Mississippi's paths for post-conviction relief.