Tuscola County Jail Overview
Tuscola County Jail is operated by the Tuscola County Sheriff's Office. The jail is located at 420 Court Street, Caro, MI 48723, and the main sheriff and jail phone is 989-673-8161. The fax number is 989-673-8164. Sheriff Ryan Robinson is the elected sheriff, and Lt. Daniel Lisowski is identified as the jail administrator. The facility is the primary and only county detention facility listed for Tuscola County.
The jail holds local pretrial detainees, people serving county jail sentences, court transports, and people waiting for release, transfer, or movement to another authority. Some people are held briefly after arrest and leave after arraignment or bond. Others remain while a district or circuit court case is pending. A sentenced person may later move to the Michigan Department of Corrections if the court imposes a state-prison sentence.
The Tuscola County Sheriff's Office home page is the starting point for local jail contacts and sheriff information.
Use the sheriff's office for local jail questions, then use the court or state locator when the person is no longer in county custody.
Tuscola County Jail Capacity
The Tuscola County Jail has 92 physical beds, but the 2023 new-jail question-and-answer materials said Department of Corrections restrictions limit practical use to 87 beds, with overcrowding declared above that point. A 2018 facility assessment described a lower practical full point, about 78 people, because classification and separation rules prevent every bed from being used for every inmate. Separation can be needed for sex, age, classification, medical status, safety, or court-related conflicts.
Historical records show that overcrowding has been a long-running issue. The jail was over capacity by 134 percent in 2008, 130 percent in 2009, 133 percent in 2010, 112 percent in 2011, 141 percent in 2012, 130 percent in 2013, 101 percent in 2014, 99 percent in 2015, 107 percent in 2016, and 115 percent in 2017. One April 2017 to April 2018 review found an average of 22 people housed outside the facility.
Tuscola County Jail Population
The 2025 monthly population figures show a jail that ran near its practical limits for much of the year. Monthly counts were 71, 86, 91, 87, 84, 74, 74, 68, 77, 83, 85, and 93. The average was about 81. The low point was 68 in August, and the high point was 93 in December. Because the DOC-limited point is 87, the high months matter for crowding and housing separation.
| 2025 Jail Measure | Number | What It Shows |
|---|---|---|
| Lodged first-time inmates | 529 | People lodged with no repeat booking counted in that measure |
| Lodged repeat inmates | 595 | Repeat bookings or people lodged more than once |
| Total lodged | 1,124 | All first-time and repeat lodgings reported for the year |
| Male inmates | 865 | Male bookings in the annual total |
| Female inmates | 259 | Female bookings in the annual total |
| DOC transports | 52 | People transported to Michigan Department of Corrections custody |
These figures describe jail use, not a live roster. A person may be booked, released, transferred, or moved to court before a public inquiry catches up. That is why current custody checks should start with the jail and then move through court and state systems.
Lookup Tuscola County Jail Inmates
No official Tuscola County online jail roster was found. That makes the fallback chain more important than a search box. Start with the Tuscola County Jail or Sheriff's Office phone line at 989-673-8161 for current local custody. Use Michigan VINELink for custody notifications where available. Use MiCOURT for criminal court filings and bond or hearing information. Use a FOIA request when the question is about a booking record rather than live custody, and use Tuscola County jail inmate records for the broader custody-search workflow.
- Call Tuscola County Jail with the person's full name, date of birth if known, and approximate arrest date.
- Check Michigan VINELink for custody-status notification options tied to Michigan custody records.
- Search MiCOURT when the issue is charges, case events, bond, or hearing dates.
- Use the MDOC OTIS search after sentencing or transfer to state custody.
- Check federal BOP or ICE tools only when there is a federal sentence, federal hold, or immigration issue.
OTIS is a state-prison locator, not the county jail roster. VINELink is a custody-notification service, not a complete booking-history index. MiCOURT is a court-case portal, not a jail population list. Each tool has a narrow job, and using the wrong one can make a person look missing when they are simply in a different system.
Tuscola County Jail Contact
Use the jail contact information for current custody, release timing, bond questions, visitation status, and mail rules. The county homepage and sheriff page list different lobby-hour language. One says the sheriff lobby is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The sheriff page says Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Visitors should call before traveling.
Tuscola County Jail
420 Court Street
Caro, MI 48723
989-673-8161
Fax: 989-673-8164
Jail Administration
Operated by Tuscola County Sheriff's Office
Sheriff Ryan Robinson
Jail Administrator Lt. Daniel Lisowski
Confirm lobby hours before visiting.
Tuscola County Jail Visitation
Tuscola County Jail uses video visitation through IC Solutions and THE VISITOR. The county transitioned to that video-visit platform on March 2, 2021. Under normal operations, one onsite video visit per inmate per week is free, and visits may last up to 30 minutes. Offsite remote video visits are fee-based. Registration can be completed through IC Solutions or at the lobby kiosk, and the ICS Mobile app is available for Android and iOS users.
The Tuscola County Jail visitation and mail page explains local visit and mail rules, while the IC Solutions Tuscola County Jail page gives vendor-specific registration and video-visit information.
Confirm the inmate's custody status before scheduling because release, court transport, discipline, or housing changes can affect visit availability.
| Visit Option | Rule or Detail | Where to Start |
|---|---|---|
| Onsite video | Normally one free onsite video visit per inmate each week | Register online or use the lobby kiosk |
| Visit length | Maximum 30 minutes | Check the available slots before arriving |
| Remote video | Fee-based offsite video visiting | Use IC Solutions or THE VISITOR |
| Mobile access | ICS Mobile supports Android and iOS users | Use the vendor app store listing |
Tuscola County Jail Mail
Personal mail for Tuscola County Jail changed to digital processing starting June 2, 2025. The county mail page lists a mail format that uses the facility name, inmate name, inmate ID, P.O. Box 16120, Jonesboro, AR 72401. Sender name and return address are required. Legal mail has separate rules and should not be sent as regular personal mail. The jail page also lists postcard restrictions and local appeal language for rejected mail.
| Mail Type | Address or Rule | Caution |
|---|---|---|
| Personal mail | Facility Name, Inmate Name, Inmate ID, P.O. Box 16120, Jonesboro, AR 72401 | Use the inmate ID if available. |
| Sender information | Sender name and return address required | Mail can be rejected without it. |
| Legal mail | Handled under separate legal-mail rules | Do not route privileged mail through personal mail. |
| Appeals | Jail Administrator, 420 Court St STE 1, Caro, MI 48723 | Use the jail's stated appeal path for mail issues. |
Tuscola County Jail Money
A Tuscola-specific commissary fee schedule was not found in the assigned research. Do not assume a vendor fee, online deposit limit, or kiosk charge without confirmation from the jail. Before sending funds, call the jail to confirm the person is still in custody, ask which deposit methods are currently accepted, and verify whether the account is for commissary, phone, video, or another service.
Note: Confirm custody with Tuscola County Jail before sending money, mail, or scheduling a paid remote video visit.
Tuscola County Jail Programs
The jail research identifies education, substance-abuse treatment, and mental-health services as available jail programming. Community Corrections was listed as active through September 2025. The facility was also described as being in full compliance with Michigan Administrative Rules for Jails and Lockups. Those rules matter because they shape classification, safety checks, housing, sanitation, discipline, and basic custody operations.
- Classification
- The jail's process for separating people by risk, needs, sex, age, medical status, or court conflicts.
- Pretrial detainee
- A person held before final case disposition, often because bond is not posted or a hold exists.
- DOC transport
- A transfer from county jail to Michigan Department of Corrections custody after a state-prison sentence or other DOC action.
Tuscola County Jail Directions
Tuscola County Jail is in Caro at the county government complex area. Visitors should use 420 Court Street, Caro, MI 48723 for mapping and should confirm the correct lobby entrance before traveling. If the visit involves court, bond, or a clerk's office question, check whether the trip is to the jail, district court, circuit court, or county clerk because those offices answer different questions.
Use the embedded map for the jail address and call 989-673-8161 before a time-sensitive visit.