Wayne County MI Jail (Baird Detention Facility → Criminal Justice Center): Visits, Mail & Money Guide
The Wayne County Sheriff's Office in Detroit, Michigan, formerly operated three jail divisions across separate downtown buildings — Jail I at 570 Clinton Street (the Andrew C. Baird Detention Facility), Jail II at 525 Clinton Street (the historic "Old Wayne County Jail"), and the Dickerson Detention Facility on the city's east side. In 2024, Wayne County consolidated adult and juvenile detention operations into the new Wayne County Criminal Justice Center (WCCJC) at 5301 Russell Street, Detroit, MI 48211, and the older Baird and Old Wayne County Jail buildings on Clinton Street are in the process of being decommissioned. If you have been directed to "Wayne County Jail I" or the Baird Detention Facility, your loved one has almost certainly been moved to the WCCJC. This guide covers the current WCCJC visitation, mail, and deposit rules under Sheriff Raphael "Ray" Washington, and how to confirm current custody status.
About the Wayne County Criminal Justice Center
The Wayne County Criminal Justice Center is a consolidated criminal-justice campus at 5301 Russell Street in Detroit that opened in 2024. It centralizes Wayne County's criminal court, adult detention, juvenile detention, and prosecutor and public defender office space in a single building complex that includes more than 1,400 offices. The consolidation was a decade-plus project that responded to long-standing problems with the aging Clinton Street jail complex — the Andrew C. Baird Detention Facility (Jail I) and the historic "Old Wayne County Jail" (Jail II) — both of which had been criticized for facility age, staffing, and operational conditions.
Sheriff Ray Washington runs the sheriff's office, which operates the adult detention side of the WCCJC. The consolidated design was intended to speed the daily jail-to-courtroom flow by putting court and detention in the same building, and to modernize visitation, mail, and deposits with digital systems that older Detroit jail buildings could not support. If you are trying to locate a loved one who was recently held at the old Clinton Street address, the current custody address is Russell Street, though the (313) 967-6672 line remains an active contact for information.
Remote video visitation on housing units
All personal visits at the WCCJC are conducted remotely by video — there is no traditional in-person visitation. Kiosks on each housing unit connect inmates to visitors during the following daily windows: 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Visitors can connect from home through the contracted video-visit vendor's platform, or from a public video visitation suite on the first floor of the WCCJC, which operates Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
To register as a visitor, create an account with the sheriff's contracted video-visit vendor (currently Securus or a comparable provider — confirm the current vendor at the Sheriff Connect website) and complete the visitor profile. Visitors must be pre-registered and approved before scheduling. Bring valid photo ID for the public suite visits and follow the platform's on-screen rules for dress, background, and behavior.
Digital mail to WCCJC inmates
The WCCJC uses a digital mail system: personal mail is not delivered to inmates on paper. Family and friends send letters to a scanning vendor (TextBehind or a comparable provider under current contract), which opens the envelope, scans it, and delivers the images to the inmate on a jail tablet. Confirm the current mailing address for personal mail at the Sheriff Connect site before sending, since the routing address for the scanning vendor may differ from the jail's Russell Street physical address. Prohibited items include books, packages, checks, and money orders in personal mail. Legal mail from an attorney or court, clearly marked as legal correspondence, still goes to the WCCJC physical address and is opened in the inmate's presence.
Because everything is scanned, use single-sided white paper with pen or clear print for the best after-scan readability. Photocopied and printed photos are typically acceptable but check the current vendor's rules. Our how to send mail to an inmate explains the scanned-mail model.
How to send money to a WCCJC inmate
Deposits at the WCCJC can be made three ways: at a lobby kiosk on the first floor near the Visitation Center, online through the sheriff's contracted deposit vendor, or by phone through the vendor's toll-free line. Standard per-transaction fees apply and scale with deposit amount. Deposits fund the inmate's trust account for commissary purchases and communications. Balances stay with the inmate during their WCCJC stay and are returned at release. If your loved one is transferred to Michigan Department of Corrections state prison after sentencing, the balance is refunded and you re-fund the new MDOC trust account separately.
Phone calls
The WCCJC's inmate phone service is provided through the sheriff's contracted vendor (typically Securus or a comparable provider). Set up a prepaid family account with the vendor and register the phone numbers the inmate will call. Michigan county jail call rates vary and can add up quickly, so a prepaid account with a small monthly cap can help contain costs. Our guide to calling an inmate covers setup and cost-management tips.
Court, bond, and release in Wayne County
Wayne County criminal cases are handled through the Third Judicial Circuit Court of Michigan (felony) and the 36th District Court (misdemeanor and preliminary matters), with case records searchable through the courts' respective online systems. Because the WCCJC houses both jail and courtroom under one roof, many hearings now happen in-building with the inmate transported directly to the courtroom rather than driven across downtown. Bond decisions in Michigan can be handled through commercial surety with a licensed Michigan bail bond company (typically for a 10 percent non-refundable premium), through cash bond, or, in some cases, on personal recognizance. If your loved one has been arrested, look up the case status through the appropriate court's public records portal and, if bond is set, contact a licensed Michigan bail bondsman or the family's defense attorney.
Emergencies and safety concerns
For urgent family emergencies such as a death, serious illness, or birth, call the sheriff's office at (313) 967-6672 with the inmate's name and booking number and ask that a chaplain or unit staff relay the message. If you are worried about a loved one's medical care, mental health, or safety inside, contact the sheriff's office directly, document the concern in writing, and follow up if the initial response is inadequate. Advocacy organizations active on Michigan jail issues include the Michigan ACLU and the Detroit Justice Center, both of which have followed the Wayne County consolidation and modernization closely.
Avoiding scams
Third-party sites sometimes claim to offer inmate locate services, cheaper phone calls, or expedited deposits for a fee. The Wayne County Sheriff's Connect site, the contracted deposit and video-visit vendors, and the digital mail vendor are the authoritative and only fully reliable channels. Paying an unfamiliar site for something the sheriff or its contracted vendors provide directly is a common way families lose money.
Wayne County runs three numbered jail divisions
The Sheriff's Office operates three separate jails and refers to them by division number, which is a reliable source of confusion. This one, Division I, is the Andrew C. Baird Detention Facility on Clinton Street in Detroit, counted at 1,283 beds. Division II is a separate jail also in Detroit, at 769 beds. Division III is the William Dickerson Detention Facility in Hamtramck, at 928 beds. Two of the three were recorded as holding no women at all, so where a woman is held in Wayne County is effectively decided for her — this facility held 170 of them.
How much room the Andrew C. Baird Detention Facility has
The federal jail census gives three different capacity figures for the Andrew C. Baird Detention Facility, and the gaps between them are the useful part. In its 2019 count the facility had a design capacity of 1,283 and a rated capacity of 1,283. Its highest population during that reporting year was 557. The design figure is what the building was drawn for, the rated figure is what the jurisdiction says it can hold, and the peak is what actually happened.
That peak sits within the design figure, which suggests the jail was not routinely operating beyond the population it was built for during that year. Short-term pressure still happens — a single busy weekend can strain intake and medical screening without moving an annual number.
The same count recorded 346 adult men and 170 adult women held at the facility. A jail holding both means separate housing, and often separate visiting and program schedules, inside one building — which is a common reason two people booked the same day end up on different routines.
These are census figures for 2019, so they describe that year rather than today. Treat them as the scale of the facility and confirm anything current with the sheriff's office.
Who was held at the Andrew C. Baird Detention Facility
On the day of the 2019 federal jail census, the Andrew C. Baird Detention Facility held 516 adults: 346 men and 170 women.
Women were 33% of that count. Jails typically run separate housing for men and women, and the smaller side of the population often means fewer program places, fewer visiting slots and less movement — a practical disadvantage that rarely gets stated anywhere.
The census also recorded this as a facility that holds people beyond 72 hours, rather than a short-term lockup that transfers everyone onward almost immediately. That matters for planning: it means someone can serve a full short sentence here, and that mail, deposits and visiting are worth setting up rather than waiting out.
These are census figures for a single reporting year and are now several years old. Treat the split as the shape of the population rather than a current count.
How the Andrew C. Baird Detention Facility compares with other jails in Michigan
The 2019 federal jail census counted 79 jails in Michigan. Ranked by rated capacity, the Andrew C. Baird Detention Facility was the 2nd largest of them, at 1,283 beds.
That puts it among the largest jails in the state, and size changes the experience in ways worth anticipating. Big jails run more formalised systems — scheduled visiting slots that fill, classification that moves people between units, and phone and deposit vendors handling enough volume that the process is automated rather than personal. You will generally get further by following the published procedure exactly than by asking staff to make an exception.
This ranking covers only the jails the census counted, and reflects that one reporting year. It is a guide to scale, not a current league table.
What the Andrew C. Baird Detention Facility is set up to do
The federal jail census records each facility's designated functions — the roles it is set up and authorised to perform. In its 2019 count, the Andrew C. Baird Detention Facility was recorded as holding adults awaiting trial or serving a sentence, holding people awaiting return to probation or parole custody, running a work release program, acting as a reception or intake centre for other facilities, operating as a dedicated medical facility, operating as a dedicated mental health facility and holding people in protective custody.
Equally useful is what it is not designated as: holding juveniles. That is a statement about the facility's formal role, not about the services inside it — a jail without a dedicated medical or treatment designation can still provide on-site care, but specialised needs are more likely to be met by transporting someone out to a hospital or a specialist facility. If that applies to your family member, ask early who provides the care and where.
These designations come from the 2019 census, so treat them as the facility's established role rather than a current service list.
Your first steps if a loved one is at the WCCJC
If someone you love has just been booked into the Wayne County Criminal Justice Center, focus first on the essentials: confirm current custody at the WCCJC through the sheriff's inmate lookup, note the booking number, register with the contracted video-visit vendor for remote or public-suite visits, fund an initial deposit through the lobby kiosk or online vendor, and send personal mail through the current digital-mail scanning vendor's PO Box (verify address at Sheriff Connect). Look up the case number on the Third Circuit or 36th District Court portal and, if bond is set, work with a licensed Michigan bail bondsman. If your loved one is transferred to Michigan DOC after sentencing, our guides on life after prison, finding work after prison, and applying for SNAP, Medicaid, and TANF after release cover what comes next.
Timeline: from Baird / Old Wayne County Jail to the WCCJC
Understanding the recent history helps families interpret older references to Wayne County jail addresses. The Andrew C. Baird Detention Facility opened in 1985 on Clinton Street to consolidate older Detroit jails; the neighboring "Old Wayne County Jail" building at 525 Clinton dated to the 1920s and had operated for nearly a century when consolidation planning began. Concerns about facility age, structural problems, staffing, and long-standing in-custody-death litigation drove the multi-decade push toward a new consolidated site. Groundbreaking on the new Wayne County Criminal Justice Center at 5301 Russell Street took place in the late 2010s, and after significant construction and political delays the WCCJC opened in 2024. As the transition completes, some directory listings, older sheriff records, and third-party inmate-lookup sites may still show 570 Clinton or the "Baird" name — treat those as outdated and rely on the sheriff's own inmate lookup for the current facility.
What families should know that isn't obvious about the new facility
Consolidation into a single building has practical upsides for families that are easy to miss. Court and jail under one roof means faster daily movement of inmates to hearings, fewer weather-related transport delays between old downtown buildings, and a modernized visitation and communications infrastructure that Baird could not physically support. The public video visitation suite on the first floor of the WCCJC is a meaningful convenience for family members who cannot install video-visit software at home, since it is a free-to-use walk-in option during Monday-Friday business hours. Coordinate with your loved one about which of the three daily visitation windows fits both schedules best, and remember that the housing-unit kiosks are shared, so time-slot planning matters.
