The search works by name. Work through it this way:

1. Open the inmate search in your phone's browser or on a laptop.
2. Type the family name alone at first. A first name helps only if too many hits show up.
3. When nothing shows, swap in a nickname, a different spelling or a married name.
4. Read the entry for a sign that the person is held at this time.
5. If a number appears next to the name, write it down, since jail staff can pull records quicker with it.

Treat the screen as a quick check, nothing more. Staff at 231-843-3475 can speak to the charge, the bond and any release time, and they answer every hour of every day.

An empty result has several common causes:

• Paperwork in progress. Fingerprints and forms come before a record goes up.
• City holding. The Ludington police may keep a person briefly before the drive to the jail.
• Already free. A small interim bond at the jail, or an order from the judge at the first hearing, can send a person home within hours.
• A neighboring jail. A stop made across the line may put the person in the next county's lockup.
• A name mix-up. Search under a middle name, a pet name or a second way of spelling the name.
• A minor. Anyone under 18 is housed away from the adults.

Instead of guessing, dial 231-843-3475 and ask the desk to check that name and birthday.

The only adult lockup the county runs is the Mason County Jail, 306 North Delia Street, Ludington, MI 49431. It has 104 beds, was built in 1958 and grew in 1999. Women and men are kept in separate sections. The Sheriff's Office operates it. No annex, work release building or city cell block turned up in our research.

When the arrest was near a border, a neighbor may hold the person:

• Manistee County Jail, 1525 E. Parkdale Ave., Manistee, MI 49660, 231-723-8435
• Lake County Jail, 1153 Michigan Ave., Baldwin, MI 49304, 231-745-6201
• Oceana County Jail, 216 Lincoln Street, Hart, MI 49420, 231-873-3967

Ask the jail whether mugshots appear in the online search, because the county has not told us that they do. State law gives you another route. The Attorney General of Michigan wrote an opinion that suspect pictures made by police fall under the public records law. Even so, an agency can refuse a request if the release would badly and needlessly invade someone's privacy. Write out the request and mail or hand it to the agency behind the arrest. The legal basis is Michigan's FOIA statute, which starts at MCL 15.231:

• Sheriff's Office, 302 N. Delia St., Ludington, MI 49431, 231-843-3475
• Ludington Police Department, 408 S Harrison, Ludington, MI 49431, 231-843-3425

For any photo ICE holds, submit a request at the ICE records page. As a rule, a federal agency keeps booking photos unreleased. The U.S. Marshals Service can break that rule, such as in a search for a fugitive.

VINE is free. It sends word when someone held in county custody or a state prison is let go, moved or escapes, and it flags certain court events.

• Call 800-770-7657.
• Or register on VINELink.

Do not count on an alert alone. If you plan to pick someone up, ask the jail staff at 231-843-3475 how releases usually go.

Michigan starts from the idea that people go home while a case is pending. The steps:

• Interim bond. Many minor charges let a person held here hand a small bond to the deputy running the jail, but only while no one who can set bond is there (MCL 780.581). If the arrest involved domestic violence, a judge or magistrate has to act first.
• Arraignment. A District Court judge or magistrate takes the first look, frequently through a video screen at the jail. Judges lean toward sending people home on their own word or on a no-cash bond, with strings attached if needed. Cash bail can be ordered only after the judge finds on the record that no softer option will do for public safety or for making the person show up (MCR 6.106).
• Money bail. One way is to pay the clerk a deposit equal to a tenth of the bail amount (MCL 780.66). Another is to hire a surety agent the court has approved. A revision to the court rule on May 1, 2026 limits what the court keeps: it may hold the deposit only on a conviction for an offense MCL 780.66 covers. With no conviction, you get all of it back minus any fines or costs you owe.
• Held without bail. Murder, treason and a short list of violent crimes can lead to a denial.

Skipping a hearing costs the bond. For more detail, read our Mason County bail guide. The Michigan bail laws page lists the statutes. Complaints about bond agents go to the state's insurance line at 877-999-6442.

Call 231-843-3475 first, because booking staff can read out the arrest charge. Once the prosecutor files a case, the court file shows the formal counts.

You can also look in MiCOURT Case Search. Nothing there yet? The 79th District Court clerk can look it up: 231-843-4130, in the courthouse at 304 East Ludington Avenue, Ludington, MI 49431.

The judge asks at the first appearance if the person wants counsel, and decides on a court-appointed one when money is short (MCR 6.005). Being able to post bail does not cancel the right to a court-paid lawyer.

• At the hearing, say clearly that a lawyer is wanted.
• Be ready to answer the judge's questions about money.
• The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission answers questions about the statewide system at 517-657-3066.
• Local details come from the court office at 304 East Ludington Avenue, Ludington, MI 49431, 231-843-4130.

A family can pay for a private attorney whenever it wishes.

The jail opens its visiting room only on Saturday and Sunday, and only to people on the inmate's approved list.

• Two windows each day: 8:30 until 11:00 a.m., and 1:00 until 4:30 p.m.
• A visit is 20 minutes long. Show up 25 minutes ahead.
• Women and men visit in separate blocks, and the men's blocks depend on the first letter of the last name.

The schedule is hard to read, so phone 231-843-3475 to learn your person's day and hour. Video visits go through the vendor ICSolutions: visit www.icsolutions.com, then pick Visitation under Support. Our visiting guide adds tips.

The account covers commissary buys and certain jail charges. The jail accepts funds in three ways:

• The kiosk in the lobby.
• A postal money order.
• An approved visitor, during a visiting block.

Ask at 231-843-3475 about limits and fees. Remember that this cash is not bail and will not free anyone. Nurse visits and medicine are billed to the account, so a small balance is useful. See how deposits work and what commissary sells for more.

Each housing unit has phones. Calls only go out from inside, and they are placed collect. Staff may monitor or record, so leave the facts of the case out. Ask at 231-843-3475 whether tablets or messaging exist.

Video visits run through ICSolutions, as explained in the visiting answer above. For common setups, see our phone call help and our email and text help.

Only white postcards, up to 5 by 7 inches. Sealed letters and notes that skipped the postal system are turned away. Address the card exactly so:

Name of Inmate
306 North Delia St.
Ludington MI 49431

• Magazines must ship directly from the publisher.
• Softcover books must ship directly from the distributor.
• Money orders are fine. Never tuck cash into anything.

Mail that breaks these rules can be delayed. The jail's address block has no inmate number, so ring 231-843-3475 if you doubt a detail. Our mail guide covers more.

The jail's public pages do not explain how belongings are returned. Learn the pickup steps by phone at 231-843-3475: who may collect the items, what ID to bring and which hours work.

Phone the jail at 231-843-3475 and describe the problem. Share the drug names, doses and doctor if you have them. The person should also hand in a medical request form inside the jail.

Counseling exists for those who qualify. Charges apply: $25 per nurse visit, the real price of prescriptions, and cost for outside services. The county can draw these from the inmate's account. For an emergency, dial 911.

Ask the Sheriff's Office whether one exists in your name. Call 231-843-3475 or stop by 302 N. Delia St., Ludington, MI 49431. MiCOURT Case Search is one more place to look, and a court clerk can check too. Talking to a lawyer helps as well. To resolve a warrant, consult an attorney first, then reach the court that issued it to arrange a surrender, which is how most people clear one up safely. The 79th District Court, 304 East Ludington Avenue, Ludington, MI 49431, answers at 231-843-4130.

The clerk and the paperwork from the arraignment carry the date. The 79th District Court takes most cases first. There a judge rules on bond, misdemeanors and early felony stages. After the preliminary exam, felonies shift to Circuit Court.

• Under MCL 766.4, the probable cause conference falls 7 to 14 days following arraignment.
• The preliminary exam is set 5 to 7 days after the conference.

The courthouse, 304 East Ludington Avenue, Ludington, MI 49431, opens Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Dial 231-843-4130. Our court guide explains every stage.

Federal charges from here go before the Southern Division court of the Western District, in Grand Rapids: 399 Federal Bldg, 110 Michigan St NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, 616-456-2381.

1. The question of jail or freedom before trial goes to a federal judge, who rules after a detention hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. The U.S. Marshals Service oversees federal prisoners at 110 Michigan Street NW, Suite 744, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, 616-456-2438.
3. Once a sentence is handed down, run a name through the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

The usual sequence runs like this:

1. The agency files a detainer using Form I-247A, which goes to the jail.
2. Under 8 CFR 287.7(d), the jail may keep the person for up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released.
3. ICE then picks the person up.
4. Look the person up in the ICE Online Detainee Locator typing a name and a birth country, or an alien registration number if you have it.

ICE's Detroit Field Office handles Michigan and Ohio. It is at 985 Michigan Avenue, Suite 207, Detroit, MI 48226, 313-771-6601.

After a prison sentence, deputies drive the person to a state intake site. For men the first stop is the Reception and Guidance Center, located in Jackson. Processing there takes a month or more, roughly 30 to 45 days, and no one may visit, although letters and deposits are fine. Women are sent to the reception center at Ypsilanti.

• Use the Department of Corrections' OTIS lookup with a name or a number.
• Rules for each prison are on our Michigan state prisons page.

Since 2021, Michigan counts a 17-year-old as a juvenile. Those cases belong in the Family Division of Circuit Court, and a minor cannot be placed with grown inmates. Under MCL 712A.4, a judge may move a young person aged 14 and up into the adult system. Under MCL 600.606, a few of the gravest crimes, when a teen aged 14 through 17 is accused, start out in Circuit Court.

To find where a child is being kept, call 231-843-4130 and ask for the Family Division. The courthouse is at 304 East Ludington Avenue, Ludington, MI 49431.

The jail or the person can tell you who made the stop. Local contacts:

• Mason County Sheriff's Office, 302 N. Delia St., Ludington, MI 49431, 231-843-3475. Begin here for any township or village missing from this list.
• Ludington Police Department, 408 S Harrison, Ludington, MI 49431. For non-emergencies use 231-869-5858, the Mason/Oceana Central Dispatch line. For report and case status, use 231-843-3425.
• Michigan State Police Hart Post, 3793 W. Polk Rd., Hart, MI 49420, 231-873-2171