Houghton County Jail Overview
Houghton County Corrections Facility is operated by the Houghton County Sheriff's Office as the county jail. The official address is 403 E. Houghton Ave., Houghton, MI 49931, and the jail phone number is 906-482-0055. The Sheriff's Office identifies this site as a corrections facility, not a state prison, federal prison, or immigration detention center. It is the local custody point for people arrested by Houghton County law-enforcement agencies when they are booked into county jail custody.
The facility holds pretrial detainees, people waiting for arraignment or bond decisions, and county-sentenced inmates who are not assigned to the lower-security Houghton County Work Camp. Michigan law places the county jail and its prisoners under the sheriff's charge, so the sheriff's office is the local source for current custody questions, mail rules, inmate accounts, and visiting rules. A person later sentenced to state prison moves into the Michigan Department of Corrections system, which uses a different locator.
The official corrections page states that the jail was constructed in 1963, has 28 beds, and is staffed 24 hours per day. That public page does not describe a large pod-style jail, named housing units, a published booking lobby, or a separate medical unit. The safer reading is a small secure county jail in downtown Houghton, distinct from the Work Camp near Calumet and from state or federal custody channels.
Houghton County Jail Capacity
Houghton County publishes a rated capacity number for this facility but does not publish a current daily inmate population, average daily population, annual bookings, or demographic table on the inspected sheriff pages. The local number that can be used for this jail is the 28-bed figure from the Sheriff's corrections page, inspected in the research file on June 17, 2026. The Work Camp is a separate 26-inmate county program and should not be treated as the same custody level as the secure jail.
The lack of a published current-population dashboard matters for Houghton County inmate lookup. A roster-style page cannot be used to confirm daily headcount because no official online county roster was located in the research. For a real-time answer, use the jail phone line, VINELink when available, MiCOURT after charges are filed, and MDOC OTIS when the person has moved into state custody.
Lookup Houghton County Jail Inmates
No official public Houghton County jail roster search portal was located on the Sheriff's Office website during the research pass. The corrections page gives inmate-service rules, but it does not show a search box, current-inmate list, booking report, released-inmate tab, or public booking-photo gallery. That means the correct Houghton County Corrections Facility inmate lookup path starts with the Sheriff's Office and then branches by custody stage.
- Call the jail at 906-482-0055 and ask whether the person is currently housed at Houghton County Corrections Facility, Houghton County Work Camp, another county jail, MDOC, federal custody, ICE custody, or has been released.
- Provide the full legal name, date of birth if known, approximate arrest date, arresting agency, and case number or citation number if available.
- For formal court charges after filing, search MiCOURT Case Search. MiCOURT is a court-record tool, not a jail custody roster.
- For a sentenced state prisoner or someone on MDOC supervision, search MDOC OTIS instead of the county jail.
- For release or transfer alerts, use VINELink where Michigan and Houghton County data are available.
Federal and immigration custody use separate systems. The Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator is for federal sentenced inmates and some historical federal records. Federal pretrial detainees may be in U.S. Marshals custody and may not yet appear in BOP. The ICE Online Detainee Locator System is for people in ICE custody, not for every person with an immigration detainer in a county jail.
Houghton County Corrections Source
The official Houghton County Sheriff's corrections page is the source for the jail's capacity, 24-hour staffing note, visitation schedule, mail, account, commissary, phone, and video visitation details.
The screenshot fits this facility page because the corrections page is the local source that replaces a public roster for many practical Houghton County jail questions.
Houghton County Jail Contact
Use the jail contact information for current custody questions, inmate-service questions, and confirmation before a visit. The Sheriff's home page lists public office hours as Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., while the corrections page states that the jail itself is staffed 24 hours per day. Keep those two facts separate. Booking and custody are continuous jail functions, but routine records and in-person non-emergency questions may need to fit public office hours.
Houghton County Corrections Facility
403 E. Houghton Ave.
Houghton, MI 49931
906-482-0055
Corrections facility staffed 24 hours per day; public office contact is Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
For copies of non-posted booking records or booking photographs, a written public-record request may be needed. Michigan FOIA gives access to nonexempt public records, while allowing fees under MCL 15.234 and redactions or withholding under MCL 15.243. Do not assume a flat local fee, because the research did not locate one.
Houghton County Jail Visits
In-person visitation for Houghton County Corrections Facility is limited in the published sheriff material. Visitors must be on the inmate's visitation list, and the posted in-person visiting schedule is on Sunday with separate male and female time blocks. The page does not publish a full dress code, child-visitor rule, background approval procedure, holiday schedule, cancellation rule, or remote-video fee table. Confirm current rules by phone before traveling, especially in winter weather or when coming from outside the Houghton and Hancock area.
| Visit Type | Schedule / Access | Rules Located |
|---|---|---|
| Male inmate in-person visitation | Sunday, 12:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. | Visitor must be on inmate's visitation list. |
| Female inmate in-person visitation | Sunday, 2:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. | Visitor must be on inmate's visitation list. |
| Video visitation | Through HomeWAV | Scheduling and account access are handled through HomeWAV. |
| Attorney visits | HomeWAV or in person | Attorney access is separate from ordinary social visitation. |
Video visitation matters because the jail is small and in-person visiting has narrow posted hours. Attorney visits may use HomeWAV or in-person contact, based on the sheriff's corrections page. Social visitors should not treat attorney access rules as general visiting rules.
Houghton County Jail Mail
Inmate mail should be addressed to the inmate at 403 E. Houghton Ave., Houghton, MI 49931. The corrections page does not list a booking-number format, postcard-only rule, publication rule, photo limit, scanning rule, or separate legal-mail procedure. Because rules can change, confirm restrictions before sending books, packages, photographs, or legal mail.
| Service | Official Detail | Fee / Limit Status |
|---|---|---|
| Mail address | Inmate name, 403 E. Houghton Ave., Houghton, MI 49931 | Separate mail limits not published. |
| Account deposit in office | Cash or money order accepted through the office | Local deposit fee not listed. |
| Money by mail | Money order may be mailed to the jail | No personal checks. |
| Commissary deadline | Funds must be in the inmate account before 8:00 a.m. Monday | Order limits not listed. |
| Phone calls | Collect calls through Inmate Calling Solutions | Families and friends can set up an ICS account. |
| Video visits | HomeWAV | Used for social video visits and attorney visits. |
The sheriff page expressly says no personal checks for inmate account deposits. It does not name an online deposit vendor, so the page should not imply that one is available. Money, phone, video, and commissary questions should be confirmed with jail staff or the named vendor before payment.
Houghton County Jail Intake
A new arrest in Houghton County will normally start at the Corrections Facility unless medical care, citation release, or another agency's custody changes the path. The research does not include a county-published booking manual, but the standard jail intake process includes identity checks, search and property inventory, fingerprints, booking photograph, safety screening, warrant or hold checks, and a first housing decision. Michigan law also requires a person arrested without a warrant to be taken before a magistrate without unnecessary delay.
After intake, the custody path depends on the case stage. Some people are released after bond or court action. Some remain at the jail while the case is pending. A county-sentenced person may remain in jail or, if eligible, be assigned to Houghton County Work Camp. A person sentenced to state prison moves to MDOC and should then be searched through OTIS, not the Houghton County jail contact line.
Note: Confirm custody and visiting status with the jail before travel, because no public online Houghton County roster was located.
Houghton County Jail Context
The Corrections Facility is in downtown Houghton near the county government area, while Houghton County Work Camp is at county-owned airport property in Calumet. That distinction is important for families, attorneys, and records users. The jail is the secure county booking and pretrial custody site. The Work Camp is a lower-security sentenced-inmate program with public-service work crews.
No MDOC prison, BOP institution, or ICE detention center was located in Houghton County in the research. The lack of those facilities does not mean Houghton County cases never reach those systems. It means the lookup method changes after transfer or designation. Use sheriff contact for county jail custody, Houghton County jail inmate records for the local lookup path, MiCOURT for filed charges, MDOC OTIS for state sentenced custody, BOP for federal sentenced custody, and ICE ODLS for immigration detention.