How to Find Someone in Manistee County Custody
The fastest way to confirm a county booking is a phone call. The Manistee County Jail answers around the clock, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Staff can tell a caller whether a person is currently lodged there. There is no online county roster to browse first. When the person may be in the state system instead, the search shifts to Michigan's offender tools. Court files can also confirm charges, bond amounts, and hearing dates.
The Manistee County Sheriff's Office page names the agency that runs the jail and answers custody questions. Sheriff Brian Gutowski leads the office, and the same team that patrols the county also books and houses inmates.
Work the channels in order until the record turns up. Each step points to a different holder of custody information.
- Call the jail 24/7 at 231-723-8435 to confirm a current county booking.
- Search OTIS if the person is a state prisoner, parolee, or probationer.
- Register with VINELink Michigan for custody-status alerts.
- Check MiCOURT for charges, bond, and hearing dates after a case is filed.
- File a sheriff FOIA request for booking or incident records not shown online.
Why There Is No Manistee County Jail Roster Online
Many Michigan counties publish a live jail roster. Manistee is not one of them, based on the sheriff and county pages reviewed. The official jail page points callers to the phone line instead of a search box. The sheriff's quick links do offer statewide tools. Those tools are not the county roster, though. A name that does not appear in a state system may still be sitting in the county jail.
This gap is common for smaller facilities. The jail books a modest number of people each day, and staff handle custody checks by phone. That keeps the answer current. It also means a caller gets a live person rather than a page that may lag behind an intake or a release.
Important: OTIS and VINELink are statewide systems, not the Manistee County jail roster; a county booking may not show there, so call the jail to confirm custody.
Manistee County Jail vs MDOC OTIS
The county jail and the state prison system are two different things. The Manistee County Jail holds people before trial and those serving short local sentences. The Michigan Department of Corrections runs the prisons and supervises parole and probation. Its public lookup is OTIS, the Offender Tracking Information System. OTIS is a state tool. It does not list everyone booked into the county jail.
Use OTIS when the person was sentenced to a state prison term or is under state supervision. The Michigan OTIS offender search covers prisoners, parolees, and probationers across the state.
OTIS accepts a few simple search fields. A number search is exact when the offender number is known. A name search is the common route for the public.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| MDOC Number | Text | Optional | Direct offender number if known. |
| Last Name | Text | Optional | Name search. |
| First Name | Text | Optional | Name search. |
| Sex | Dropdown | Optional | State portal field. |
| Race | Dropdown | Optional | State portal field. |
| Age | Text / range | Optional | Portal commonly supports age filters. |
| Search | Button | n/a | Runs the offender search. |
VINELink Custody Alerts for Michigan
VINELink lets a person track custody status and sign up for alerts. It is Michigan's public notification service. The sheriff's quick links point to it. A user can search by name where the data is available and register to hear about a status change. That helps a victim or family member learn about a release, a transfer, or a court event without repeated calls.
The service runs as a JavaScript app, so the exact fields shift by agency and by device. The Michigan VINELink portal handles both the search and the sign-up in one place.
The core options are simple. Pick the state, run a search, and register for notification if the record supports it.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| State | Route / context | Yes | Michigan selected by the portal URL. |
| Name / ID search | Text | Optional | Public custody search varies by agency. |
| Register for notification | Account / action | Optional | User signs up for custody-status updates. |
What a Manistee County Custody Search Shows
No official county roster profile could be inspected, because Manistee does not publish one online. The jail page shares facility and phone details, not a browsable inmate profile. The fields below reflect the OTIS-style record a state search returns. Treat them as a guide to what a Michigan custody lookup can show, not as a county jail profile.
A state result centers on the person, the case, and the current supervision status. Charges, sentence data, and location fields fill out the record.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Offender Name | Full legal name and known aliases for the person. |
| MDOC Number | Unique state offender number tied to the record. |
| Status | Whether the person is a prisoner, parolee, or probationer. |
| Location | Facility or supervising office for a state case. |
| Offense | Convicted offense or offenses on the record. |
| Sentence | Term length and key sentence dates. |
| Parole / Probation | Supervision terms, conditions, and discharge details. |
Note: OTIS is the state offender record, so a person held only in the county jail may not appear there at all until a state term begins.
Manistee County Jail Facility and Capacity
The Manistee County Jail sits at 1525 E Parkdale Avenue and is attached to the Sheriff's Office. Jail Administrator Chris Banicki runs the facility. The current jail was built in 1989 with three inmate blocks based on classification, one holding cell, and two detox cells near Central Control. A 2009 addition brought three more blocks, one large male block and two female blocks. Rated capacity is 82. Central Control monitors security 24 hours a day.
The Manistee County Jail page lays out this facility history, the block layout, and the 24/7 phone line. It is the official source for the jail's core facts.
Both the jail and the Sheriff's Office share the same Parkdale Avenue address. Use the jail line for custody checks and the office line for general questions.
Manistee County Jail
1525 E Parkdale Avenue
Manistee, MI 49660
231-723-8435
Fax: 231-723-1584
Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Manistee County Sheriff's Office
1525 E. Parkdale Avenue
Manistee, MI 49660
231-723-8393
Fax: 231-723-1498
Non-emergency; call 911 for emergencies
Booking, Lodging, and the Body Scanner
Booking begins when a person is brought in and lodged. Staff record the intake and classify the person for housing. Classification decides which block fits the inmate, based on factors the jail tracks. Central Control gives corrections deputies the tools to watch the facility at all hours.
Security screening tightened in 2024. The jail added a body scanner that year, and it is used every time someone is lodged. The scanner helps keep contraband out of the blocks. Charges, bond, and the first court date move through the court system rather than the jail, so a MiCOURT search or the county criminal court records fill in the case detail a booking alone will not show.
Video Visits at the Manistee County Jail
The jail modernized visitation in 2024. It added video visitation stations in each block for all general-population inmates, so they can video call friends and loved ones. A local news report also describes a video console in the sheriff's office lobby. Sheriff Gutowski said a family that cannot pay can come to the lobby for a free video visit rather than being forced to pay.
The official county page does not publish a vendor, a schedule, prices, or visitor rules. It confirms the service exists but leaves the operating detail to a phone call. The table sorts what is confirmed from what a caller still needs to verify.
| Topic | Confirmed Detail | Call to Confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Jail phone | Reachable 24/7 at 231-723-8435. | Any separate visitation desk line. |
| Video visitation | Stations in each block since 2024; lobby console noted. | Vendor, schedule, remote price, account setup. |
| In-person visits | Not published on the county page. | Schedule, ID rules, and visitor approval. |
| Not published on the county page. | Mail format, banned items, scanning policy. | |
| Phone / tablets / texting | News report references these services. | Provider and exact prices. |
| Attorney visits | Not published on the county page. | Professional visitation rules. |
Note: Call 231-723-8435 before mailing property, scheduling a visit, sending money, or setting up video, since the county page does not name a vendor or a fee schedule.
FOIA Requests for Manistee County Booking Records
Records that never appear online can still be requested. The Sheriff's Office handles public records under the Freedom of Information Act. Undersheriff Jason Torrey serves as the FOIA Coordinator and oversees records compliance. A written request is the route for booking logs, incident reports, and similar documents. Some material stays exempt, including reports tied to a pending charge and certain law-enforcement content.
The Sheriff's staff directory lists the administration, corrections, and support staff who route these requests. It also carries the addresses and phone numbers for each unit.
The office separates report types. Pending-charge reports, non-pending reports, and accident reports each follow their own path, and standard FOIA copy costs apply. When a records request is not the fit, a warrant search or a court file may hold the detail instead.
Oaks Correctional Facility in Manistee County
A state prison also sits in the county. Oaks Correctional Facility is an MDOC prison at 1500 Caberfae Highway in Manistee. It opened in 1992 and houses adult males, 18 and older, at Security Levels II and IV. Warden Michael Burgess leads it. Rated capacity is 1,108, and the site employs 338 people across eleven main buildings.
Prisoners live in seven main buildings, including a segregation unit and a protective custody unit. Two Level IV units run START, an alternative to segregation for prisoners with serious mental illness. Because Oaks is a state facility, its residents are tracked through OTIS, not the county jail line. General questions and visiting applications go to the facility by phone at 231-723-8272 or by email to mdoc-oaks-public@michigan.gov.
Manistee County Sheriff App and Alerts
The Sheriff's Office runs a mobile app called Manistee County Sheriff, MI. It is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. The app pushes real-time alerts for emergencies, weather, road closures, and public safety news. It also takes crime tips and non-emergency help requests and lists sheriff services.
The Sheriff's quick links page gathers OTIS, VINELink, the sex offender registry, and other official tools in one spot. It is a useful hub when a search needs to move from the county to the state level.
The app is handy for alerts and tips. Its store listings do not advertise an inmate lookup, a warrant search, or a most-wanted list, so do not count on it for a custody check.
Jail Programs and Reentry Support
The jail offers more than housing. Inmates have a recreation room with library materials, from novels to legal books, plus workout equipment. The facility provides help with mental health, medical care, and rehabilitation programming. A 2026 year-in-review report says the jail averaged 32 inmates a day in an 80-bed facility and added a jail clinician to improve reentry support.
Oversight backs up the programming. The jail passed its 2025 inspection with full compliance from the Michigan Department of Corrections County Jail Services Unit. That review covered documentation, meal services, cleanliness, and medical care. The reentry clinician helps connect people leaving custody with mental health, medical, and support services before release.