Thumb Correctional Facility

The Thumb Correctional Facility is a Level II Michigan state prison for adult and juvenile male inmates that is located in Lapeer, Michigan. This prison opened in 1987, and it can house approximately 1,200 inmates. This is the only facility in the state of Michigan that houses male juvenile offenders.

Thumb Correctional Facility (TCF) has six Level II general population housing units which include day rooms, showers, laundry facilities, and staff offices. Four housing units house adult prisoners, one housing unit houses prisoners sentenced under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act (HTYA) and one housing unit houses youthful offenders (YO).  

The segregation unit is equipped with stainless steel sinks and toilets, and slotted doors for meal services. There is an administrative building which includes staff offices, prisoner records, and visiting areas. 

Other buildings include the education, food services, healthcare, maintenance, and Michigan State Industries (MSI) buildings which provide industrial laundry services for state and other nonprofit agencies. Prisoners are provided with on-site medical care, including x-ray, dental, and mental health services. Referrals are made to outside medical facilities when necessary. 

Security includes triple 12-foot fences, rolls of razor ribbon wire, towers, electric perimeter detection systems, and a perimeter vehicle with armed personnel who responds to all detection systems alarms. Surveillance camera systems are located throughout the facility.

Prison Insights

Visiting Hours and Rules

Visiting Hours at Thumb Correctional Facility are as follows:

Level II Inmates:
Monday, Thursday & Friday              2:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Saturday & Sunday                            8:30 am – 9:00 pm

Segregation:
Friday                                                   8:30 am – 1:30 pm

BMU:
Monday & Thursday                          8:30 am – 1:30 pm

General Visiting Rules

If you wish to visit an inmate at Thumb Correctional Facility, you must first complete a Visiting Application to request approval. You must submit the Visiting Application before your visit to allow for review of the Application, and your inmate must also place you on their visitor list.

You will be subject to a search by officers when you arrive for your visit. Anyone who fails to clear the metal detector after two attempts will be screened by use of a handheld metal detector. The facility will also use the black light hand marking system. The black light will be used to check visitors’ hand marking when they exit the visiting room. 

A maximum of five people are allowed to visit with a prisoner at one time. Children under the age of two are not counted in that number. 

A detailed list of visiting rules at Thumb Correctional Facility can be found by clicking here. You can also find a complete Family Information Packet by clicking here.

Personal Property Allowed in the Visiting Room

You are allowed to bring the following items into the visiting room:

• Locker key
• Visitor pass
• Identification card
• Money for vending machines – a maximum amount of $25.00 per visitor or no more than $60 per group visit.
• For visitors with infants: Two, clear plastic bottles, one pacifier, and one single-layered baby blanket (no quilt or comforter style). A clear “sippy cup” is permitted when a toddler is visiting.
• Medications and/or medical equipment which may be needed by a visitor during a visit are permitted with the approval of the shift commander.
• A service animal which provides service for a disabled visitor is permitted to accompany the visitor while in the visiting room. 
• Immediate family members may bring legal documents in on a visit for review only with the prisoner. The documents cannot be left with the prisoner nor left at the front desk for the prisoner. These items are subject to search before being taken into the visiting room. 

Dress Code

Visitors must be fully dressed in clean clothes that do not have holes and undergarments must be worn, including underpants/panties. Adult females must wear a brassiere. Clothing which exposes undergarments is prohibited. 

Watches, including electronic wristbands, pendants, eyeglasses, and other similar items containing a camera, GPS, wireless, or electronic functions are prohibited.

Clothing which exposes excessive skin is prohibited. This clothing includes, but is not limited to, see-through clothing, tube/halter tops, and shorts or skirts/dresses that are more than 3” above the knee. 

Extreme form-fitting clothing, including but not limited to yoga pants, running tights, jeggings, unitards, etc. may not be worn as outer garments. 

Clothing which displays words, symbols, gestures, or pictures that may be perceived as obscene or inflammatory are not allowed. 

Outer garments such as shawls/ponchos, lightweight coats/jackets (including denim and jogging suit jackets), winter coats/jackets, shrugs, vests, headgear, gloves, or outer boots that slip over a shoe are not allowed in the visiting room. Blazers, suit coats, and sweaters are permissible. Note: Hooded garments are prohibited. 

Visitors are permitted to wear religious clothing and headgear into the visiting room, but they are subject to search and inspection.

Footwear is required. 

Jewelry worn by visitors will be itemized on entry and on leaving the visiting area. Jewelry is limited to no more than ten pieces. Note: Jewelry which includes an open compartment or space designed to contain photographs, hair, ashes, etc. is prohibited.

Visitors fourteen years of age or younger must be attired in clothing which covers his/her body from the base of the neck to the top of the knees. T-Shirt and shorts/trousers are acceptable, but a sundress is not acceptable. 

All inmate mail sent to the Thumb Correctional Facility must include the offender’s name and MDOC number. If you do not know this information, you can search the OTIS Database located on the MDOC’s website (www.michigan.gov/mdoc).

Prisoners may receive magazines, newspapers, and books ordered from the following Internet vendors, provided the publication is not used and is sent directly to the prisoner from the Internet vendor:

• Amazon.com
• Walmart.com
• BarnesandNoble.com
• EdwardRHamilton.com and HamiltonBooks.com
• Prisonlegalnews.org
• humanrightsdefensecenter.org/action/publishing/
• Schulerbooks.com

FFP Program

The FFP Program is an approved customized package program that allows loved ones to send authorized items to inmates. The spend limit is $100, not including tax and shipping, per FFP order placed. Only one FFP order is allowed per prisoner per quarter (i.e., Jan-Mar; Apr-Jun; Jul-Sep; Oct-Dec). 

For additional information, please visit the FFP website at www.michiganpackages.com.

How to Call an Inmate

How to Send Money

The easiest way to send money to an inmate at Thumb Correctional Facility is via the GTL ConnectNetwork by using their Trust Fund service. 

You must create a ConnectNetwork account and then select Thumb Correctional Facility and your inmate before you can deposit money into the Trust Fund (commissary) account.

The website is the fastest way to make a Trust Fund deposit, but there are several different payment options available. Note: all Trust Fund deposits are final; there are no refunds issued.

Programs For Inmates

The education department at Thumb Correctional Facility offers Adult Basic Education (ABE), General Education Development (GED), and Special Education Services which includes emphasis on achieving General Diploma (GED).  

TCF offers vocational trades classes which include: Employment Readiness (ER), Building Trades (BT), Food Technology, and Hospitality Management (FT). Completion of vocational trades curricula includes state and/or national certifications. HYTA and youthful prisoners are eligible to participate in the Edovo Tablet Program which provides educational programming. 

The facility also offers evidence-based programs such as Thinking for a Change (T4C), Violence Prevention Program (VPP), Phase II Substance Abuse, Advanced Substance Abuse treatment (ASAT), and Alcoholics Anonymous. 

Other programs and services include a general and law library, hobbycraft program, religious services, a barbershop, and recreational program, which include exercise equipment and a gymnasium.

The facility has two dog programs: MI-PAWS and Stiggy’s Dogs. Prisoners involved in these programs complete extensive training in order to prepare the dogs for adoption as service dogs for persons with disabilities and for military veterans who suffer from PTSD.  

Prisoner dog handlers learn how to train and properly care for dogs including veterinary needs, training methods, and grooming standards which may provide additional employment opportunities when the prisoner is released.

Pictures of Thumb Correctional Facility

Careers at Thumb Correctional Facility

If you are interested in a career with the Michigan Department of Corrections at the Thumb Correctional Facility, you can find job listings by clicking here.