Mason County Inmate Population
The local Mason County inmate population is the group of adults held by the Mason County Sheriff's Office at the Mason County Jail. That count can include people arrested by sheriff's deputies, Ludington police officers, Michigan State Police, or other local agencies serving the county. Some are waiting for arraignment, bond review, trial, sentencing, probation hearings, parole action, transfer, or release. Others are serving short local jail terms. The jail is not a state prison, and it is not the search point for a person who has already been committed to the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Because Mason County does not publish a live jail population dashboard in the official pages reviewed for this build, the hard public figures are limited. The official county jail and corrections page gives the bed history and basic facility facts. A local Manistee News article later reported 2024 average daily population figures attributed to Sheriff Kim C. Cole. For an exact same-day count, the practical route is still the jail phone line or a records request to the sheriff's office.
Mason County Inmate Population Statistics
The best sourced local number is the jail's rated bed capacity. The official county jail and corrections page says the jail was built in 1958 and expanded in 1999 from 45 beds to 104 beds. It also says the jail is operated by a 17-person corrections staff and has its own kitchen, added in 2006. Those facts describe capacity and operations, not a real-time roster count.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Rated capacity | 104 beds | Official Mason County jail/corrections page, facility history |
| Average daily population | 59 | Manistee News report quoting Sheriff Cole, Jan.-June 2024 |
| Average daily population | 84 | Manistee News report quoting Sheriff Cole, July-Dec. 2024 |
| One-day lodged count | 76 people, about 83% previously lodged | Manistee News report quoting Sheriff Cole context |
| Current daily population | Not published online in researched official pages | Sheriff jail and FOIA pages reviewed |
| Confirmed local detention facilities | 1 | Facility map research |
Mason County Jail Population Trends
The available Mason County jail population trend data is narrow, but it still shows why a live inmate search and a population count are different tasks. The local-news-reported average daily population rose from the first half of 2024 to the second half of 2024. That does not prove an official overcrowding emergency, and the research did not locate a county dashboard, consent decree, active DOJ investigation, or current jail-construction campaign. It does show that local counts can change sharply within the same year.
| Period | ADP or Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Not located | No official online Mason County dashboard was found. |
| 2023 | Not located | County pages reviewed did not publish an annual jail count. |
| 2024 Jan.-June | 59 ADP | Local-news-reported figure attributed to Sheriff Cole. |
| 2024 July-Dec. | 84 ADP | Local-news-reported figure attributed to Sheriff Cole. |
| 2025-2026 | Not published online | Call the jail or use FOIA for exact current or historical counts. |
For broader population context, U.S. Census QuickFacts for Mason County, Michigan gives the county population base. That county population denominator is not the same as a jail population count, but it helps explain why a small number of bookings can affect jail crowding in a rural county with one detention site.
Who Is in Mason County Jail
The official online Mason County jail pages reviewed did not publish a demographic table by sex, age, race, charge level, length of stay, or pretrial status. The safest local description is based on facility function. Mason County Jail holds adults arrested in Mason County, defendants awaiting court action, people serving short jail sentences, and people held because of warrants, bond status, probation or parole matters, or pending transfer. Juvenile, sealed, medical, security, and investigative limits can affect what is released to the public.
- Recent arrests: People may be booked before a court case appears in MiCOURT.
- Pretrial detainees: A person may remain in jail while bond or release conditions are pending.
- Local sentences: Short jail sentences remain local unless a state-prison commitment occurs.
- Holds and detainers: Another agency can block release even when a local bond appears payable.
- State prisoners: Sentenced MDOC prisoners are searched in OTIS, not through Mason County Jail.
Mason County Jail Capacity
The 104-bed figure is the main official capacity fact for the Mason County inmate population. It came from the county jail/corrections history, which says the 1999 expansion raised the jail from 45 beds to 104. The 2024 second-half average daily population reported in local news remained below that rated bed count, but a daily jail can still feel full due to classification, gender separation, medical needs, suicide-watch cells, court holds, or people who cannot be housed together.
The sheriff's jail information page is the operating source for visitation, mail, phones, property, money, bonds, and attorney visits. It is not a public population dashboard. Readers who need exact daily count, annual bookings, or demographic detail should ask the sheriff's office for the specific record, not rely on a generic third-party roster claim.
Mason County Jail Record Laws
Michigan law supplies the public-record path when a Mason County inmate population fact is not posted online. MCL 15.231 states Michigan's policy that people are entitled to information about government affairs, subject to limits. MCL 15.232 defines public records and public bodies. MCL 15.235 controls basic FOIA response procedures, while MCL 15.243 lists exemptions that may apply to some law-enforcement, privacy, juvenile, sealed, or security-sensitive records.
Key Statutes:
MCL 791.265a addresses county jail overcrowding emergency powers in Michigan.
MCL 765.6 relates to recognizance and bond conditions after arrest.
The federal Death in Custody Reporting Act governs state and federal reporting frameworks for deaths in law-enforcement and correctional custody.
Those statutes do not mean every booking photo, roster field, or jail-management detail must be posted online. They do mean that a precise records request is the right next step when a phone call or public portal does not answer the question.
Mason County Prison Population
No Michigan Department of Corrections prison was identified inside Mason County. A Mason County defendant sentenced to state prison leaves the county jail system and enters MDOC reception, classification, and placement. From that point, the family uses MDOC OTIS for location and offender status and MDOC family information for prison mail, visits, phones, and money rules.
The MDOC count is part of a different inmate population. OTIS may show an MDOC number, status, facility or supervision location, sentence detail, offenses, and sometimes a profile image. It does not show same-day Mason County Jail booking decisions, local bond payment rules, local housing units, or a county booking number.
Search Mason County Inmates
No official public Mason County Jail online roster, booking list, current-inmate search form, or booking-photo gallery was located on the sheriff's website during the research pass. That changes the search order. Current custody questions should start with the jail phone channel, then move to MiCOURT for filed court cases, the sheriff FOIA path for records, and state or federal systems when the person is no longer in local jail custody.
- Call Mason County Sheriff's Office at 231-843-3475 and ask for current jail custody information.
- Give the person's full name, date of birth if known, and approximate arrest or booking date.
- Search MiCOURT Case Search after charges are filed or a court case exists.
- Use MDOC OTIS if the person was sentenced to state prison.
- Use Michigan VINELink for custody notifications where available.
- For federal or immigration custody, use the BOP locator or ICE Online Detainee Locator System.
- For older booking records, incident reports, or mugshots, use the sheriff's FOIA page.
Mason County Custody Lookup
The Mason County inmate population can include people who have not yet reached a public court record. For same-day arrests, the jail phone channel is often more useful than a court search, because intake and arraignment do not always happen at the same moment. A custody call can ask whether the person is lodged, whether bond has been set, whether another hold exists, and whether a court appearance has been scheduled.
| Channel | Best Use | Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Mason County Jail phone | Current custody, bond status, visit questions | Staff may limit details by law or policy. |
| MiCOURT Case Search | Filed charges, hearing dates, court case status | Not a live jail roster. |
| Sheriff FOIA | Historical booking, incident, or arrest-related records | Exemptions, fees, and response time may apply. |
| MDOC OTIS | Sentenced state prisoners, parolees, probationers | Not for same-day county bookings. |
| VINELink | Custody notification and release alerts | Use as a notification tool, not a full archive. |
The Mason County Sheriff's Office homepage is the local starting point for custody operations and records routing.
The sheriff site points readers toward local jail and FOIA resources, which matters because no official roster search form was found.
Past Mason County Inmate Records
A released inmate may disappear from current custody before a user finds a record online. Mason County's FOIA request form is the official fallback for past booking records, incident reports, and booking photos if they are disclosable. The form asks the requester to describe the public records as specifically as possible, and it gives fields for complaint number, date and time of complaint, incident type, incident location, and other locating information. That is the best local clue for how to make a useful request.
| FOIA Field | How It Helps |
|---|---|
| Describe records | Names the booking, incident, arrest, photo, or report being requested. |
| Complaint number | Lets staff match the request to a known report number. |
| Date/time of complaint | Narrows the search when no booking number is known. |
| Type and location of incident | Helps identify the law-enforcement event tied to the booking. |
| Delivery method | Allows pickup, mail, email, or county-provided digital media when available. |
The Mason County sheriff FOIA page links the request form and fee materials used for sheriff records.
Specific names, dates, complaint numbers, and locations make the records request more useful than a broad request for every jail record.
Mason County Inmate Record Fields
No local public roster profile was available to inspect, so Mason County-specific public profile fields should not be invented. A phone call or FOIA request may ask for booking name, booking date, arresting agency, complaint or incident number, charges at booking, bond status, release status, and court appearance information if the record is disclosable. Court case fields come from MiCOURT, while prison sentence fields come from OTIS.
- Booking
- The jail intake event that creates a custody record after arrest.
- Bond
- Money or release conditions set by the court to secure future appearance.
- Detainer
- A hold from another agency that can delay release from local custody.
- Remand
- A court order that keeps a person in custody.
- Disposition
- The final court outcome of a charge or case.
County Jail vs State Prison
The Mason County inmate population search should separate local jail custody from prison custody. The county jail answers recent arrest, pretrial, bond, warrant, probation, parole, and short-sentence questions. MDOC answers state-prison and state-supervision questions after a person enters the state corrections system. Federal and immigration systems are separate again.
| Question | Mason County Jail | Michigan DOC |
|---|---|---|
| Who is held | Recent arrests, pretrial detainees, local sentences, holds | Sentenced prisoners, parolees, probationers, absconders |
| Run by | Mason County Sheriff's Office | Michigan Department of Corrections |
| Lookup path | Call jail or request sheriff records | Search OTIS by name, offender number, or status fields |
| Record focus | Booking, custody, bond, local court timing | Conviction, sentence, facility, supervision status |
State and Federal Search
OTIS searches Michigan sentenced-offender records by last name, first name, offender number, sex, race, age, offender status, and marks or tattoos. Status filters include active offenders, prisoners, parolees, probationers, discharged people, and absconders. The MDOC prison directory confirms that state prison placement is a statewide system, not a Mason County building assignment.
BOP name search requires first and last name, with optional middle name, race, sex, and age. BOP number search uses register, DCDC, FBI, or INS numbers. ICE ODLS searches by A-Number and country of birth or by biographical information. None of those federal tools should be treated as Mason County Jail mugshot galleries.
MDOC OTIS is the statewide search point when a Mason County defendant has moved from jail into state custody.
OTIS is useful after commitment to the state system, but it does not replace the Mason County jail phone channel for recent arrests.
Mason County Detention Facilities
The facility map resolved one local detention page for this project. Ludington Police Department and other local agencies may arrest people, but no separate official city jail, regional jail, work-release building, state prison, federal prison, or ICE detention center was identified inside Mason County.
- Mason County Jail - the county jail for adults arrested in Mason County, pretrial detainees, short local sentences, warrants, bond matters, probation or parole holds, and transfer-related custody.
ICE research identified North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Lake County, as a relevant Michigan immigration detention source outside Mason County. It is not a Mason County facility page.
Mason County Inmate Population FAQ
How big is the Mason County inmate population?
The official county jail/corrections page gives a 104-bed capacity after the 1999 jail expansion. A local Manistee News report quoted Sheriff Kim C. Cole for 2024 average daily population context: 59 from January through June and 84 from July through December. No official live public dashboard was found.
Is there a Mason County jail roster online?
No official public Mason County Jail online roster was located on the sheriff's website during the research pass. Current custody searches should start with the sheriff's main number, then use MiCOURT, FOIA, OTIS, VINELink, BOP, or ICE depending on the person's case status.
Where are Mason County court charges found?
Court charges are searched through MiCOURT after a case is filed or through the court clerk. A jail booking charge can differ from the formal prosecutor-filed charge, so court records control the filed case status.
Can a released inmate be looked up?
Historical Mason County booking information may require a sheriff FOIA request. The request should include the person's full name, date of birth if known, arrest or booking date, complaint number, incident type, and location when available.