Worst Prisons List

10 Worst Prisons In The State of Michigan

What are some of the 10 worst prisons in the state of Michigan? We have listed the 10 worst prisons in the state of Michigan based on the crime rate and living conditioning.

PrisonsInfo.com | We Have Information About Every US Prison

Oct 24, 2023 • 5 min read

10 Worst Prisons In The State of Michigan

Currently, there are 32 active state prisons in Michigan, and most of them do not have a good record of their living conditions.

The Correctional Facilities Administration (CFA) is the governing body that is tasked to overview and operate these state’s prisons; and to effectively manage prisons, CFA has divided Michigan state prisons into Level I to Level V prisons or from minimum security prisons to maximum security risk prisons.

What makes Prisons in Michigan the worst?

While the prisons in Michigan are not considered to be the worst in the United States of America, however, they have a bad reputation due to the following reasons:

Poor hygiene and sanitation for incarcerated individuals.
Guards were outnumbered and accused of exerting excessive force on inmates to exert their control.
Facilities in prisons are not being upgraded on time.
Inmates are being made to do excessive work without due compensation.
Overcrowding in prisons leads to inmates being made to sleep on the floor.
Guards send inmates they do not like or want to take some revenge to solitary confinement.
Rampant inmate fights and prison gangs make life extremely tough for other fellow inmates.
Drug overdose.

What does the Michigan Department of Corrections do?

The force was founded in the year 1953 and had a force of 14,000 active members. In 2010, the budget of the Michigan Department of Corrections was $2 billion and had seen steady growth over the years. The agency has its headquarters located in Grandview Plaza in Lansing.

The duties of the Michigan Department of Corrections are wide ranged from making sure the correctional facilities are well administered, cordoned off, and secure to ensure inmates have access to a US Department of Justice-sponsored level of education.

The Correctional Facilities Administration (CFA) also comes under the Michigan Department of Corrections, which oversees the state prisons and camps.

What are the 5 worst prisons in Michigan?

Following is the list of the 5 worst prisons in the State of Michigan:

Ionia Correctional facility
Carson City Correctional Facility:

The following are the 5 worst prisons in Michigan:

1. Ionia Correctional Facility:

The worst prison on the list is Ionia Correctional Facility (ICF), a famous I-Max or Maximum security prison with multiple maximum security housing units for male inmates. Additionally, the prison also has minimum security levels for inmates that are not charged with serious crimes.

The prison was founded in 1987 and is famous for multiple riots, drug abuse, prison fights, and mysterious deaths of inmates. In this prison, it is not just the inmates getting killed or murdered but also the guards who are constantly assaulted whenever they get a chance since the prison has been suffering from staff shortages. The staff shortage is also a reason why guards in this prison choose to send inmates to solitary confinement whenever they feel someone might cause trouble.

What’s worse is that this is not all that makes this prison a terrible place to be since the prison is also accused of being overcrowded, leading to guards not getting access to other services and facing hygiene issues. On the other hand, authorities have assured me they will be looking into the problem multiple times. However, little has been done.

For all these reasons, prison should not be on anyone’s list.

2. Carson City Correctional Facility:

The Carson City Correctional Facility (DRF) is located in Carson City and is for adult male prisoners. The prison has 4 different security levels from Level 1 to Level IV. Since the facility is for adult males, that means it houses male prisoners aged 18 to 24. The facility is divided into three units, with the low-security housing 120 beds, whereas the others housing over a total of 720 beds.

The prison was least considered to be this volatile and dangerous when in 2019, an inmate secretly got his phone in the facility and started to share everything worst that goes inside the prison. The video showed how common gang fights are, how easy it is for inmates aged 18 to smoke substances, and even more, showing the prison is home to drug dealings.

The video shocked everyone so much that authorities decided to take serious action. Still, the action was said to be against the inmate who made the video rather than the opposite.

However, after the video, many former inmates revealed the dire conditions inside this facility and how prison guards and administration simply do not care to take any action.

3. Central Michigan Correctional Facility:

The Central Michigan Correctional Facility was founded in the year 1990 and had a capacity of 2,400 male inmates. The prison is a level I security class. This is perhaps why it does not have a good reputation because the authorities simply think the minimum amount of security is enough to keep it functional and operational.

The prison has a serious issue, and the reason is staff shortages. The shortage of staff is a reason why there is so much lawlessness in prison, so much so that inmates often report the cells to operate without the jurisdiction or control of any authority. This is why they must surrender to the stronger person or gang in the cell.

Less control of authorities is also a reason why there is a rampant number of prison riots and fights, sometimes leading to serious injuries to inmates. Things became even worse when during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic, over 669 inmates tested positive and were given minimum care.

4. Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility:

Located in Muskegon, the prison can house 1,224 male inmates and has Level I, Level II, and Level IV security classes. The prison occupies an area of 76 acres and has six different housing units. The Level I prison also houses adult male inmates aged 18 or older.

While the prison is best known for some of the best services and facilities that it offers, such as library, education programs, substance abuse treatment, group counseling, sex offender treatment, religious services, and more, however, there is a much darker side to the prison which is due to the lack of control guards have in prison.

This prison is overcrowded, and while it offers so many programs, many inmates simply do not get a chance to access them.

Overcrowding is also a reason why the prison has low hygiene and poor sanitation services. There are also rampant inmate fights among different groups, age groups, and more; a reason why the death of inmates is not uncommon.

5. Newberry Correctional Facility:

The last one on our list is Newberry Correctional Facility (NCF). The prison is a medium-level security class for men which is located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was opened in 1996 and had a capacity of 1,108.

The prison also faces some similar issues, such as inmates fighting one another, rampant drug abuse, and more. This is also a reason why attempts of prison escapes are so common in NCF because the inmates believe the only way to get rid of such a terrible place is to try to escape the prison altogether. The recent prison escape attempt was in 2021.

However, the silver lining is that the authorities have worked hard over the years to ensure the prison is administered according to the standards, and some of the efforts have been fruitful.

You can also read articles related to this topic;