United States · Mississippi · Parchman
Mississippi State Penitentiary
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.
For families
How to send mail, money, and visit Mississippi State Penitentiary
Step-by-step guidance using the United States system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.
Gallery
From Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA where not otherwise stated).
Photo by Mississippi Department of Corrections via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by United States Geological Survey (USGS) via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Mississippi Department of Corrections via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Mississippi Department of Archives and History via Wikimedia Commons (No restrictions)
Photo by Mark Low! from Brooklyn, NY, USA via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Photo by Robert Pollack from Santa Fe, NM, USA via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Photo by United States Geological Survey (USGS) via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by United States Geological Survey (USGS) via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Mississippi State Penitentiary is a state prison located in Sunflower County, Mississippi. Rated capacity: 3,590. Reported population: 3,289. Security level: Maximum. Data sourced from the HIFLD Prison Boundaries open dataset.
Capacity
3,590
Current population
3,289
Occupancy
92%
Year opened
1901
Closed 2017
Figures from official sources · verified 2 Jun 2026 · methodology
Facility profile
Population held
Mixed/unknown
Opened
1901
Region
Mississippi
Security level
Maximum
Death-row facility
No
Conditions
No conditions summary available yet.
Visiting
No visiting information available.
Mailing
No mailing information available.
Practical info
Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.
Known issues
The Justice Department announced an investigation into conditions at Mississippi State Penitentiary following deadly riots and prolonged lockdowns.
Notable inmates
Edgar Ray Killen1925–2018 · pastorEdgar Ray Killen (January 10, 1925 â January 11, 2018) was an American Ku Klux Klan organizer who planned and directed the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, three civil rights activists participating in the Freedom Summer of 1964.
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Sally Rowley1931–2020 · civil rights advocateSara Jane "Sally" Rowley (October 20, 1931 â May 14, 2020) was an American jewelry-maker and civil rights activist. .
Source: Wikidata + Wikipedia.
Contact & address
Conditions Risk Score
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
- Overcrowding
- 0/30
- Oversight reports
- 0/30
- Structural flags
- 5/15
- Death signals
- 5/15
- Conditions text
- 0/10
What the score is responding to:
- · Substantial documented known-issues record
- · Mass-event keyword in sources (riot / massacre / uprising)
This facility scores 10. The national average across 7,437 scored United States facilities is 2 — 8 points above national average.
Related facilities
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
- Woodman State JailGatesvilleMaximumState prison720% occupancy
- Centinela State Prison (Cen)ImperialMaximumState prison150% occupancy
- Kern Valley State Prison (Kvsp)DelanoMaximumState prison152% occupancy
- Diagnostic And Evaluation CenterLincolnMaximumState prison178% occupancy
- High Desert State Prison (Hdsp)SusanvilleMaximumState prison152% occupancy
- Calipatria State Prison (Cal)CalipatriaMaximumState prison161% occupancy
Compared to other facilities in United States
7436 peersReports
- propublica6 Feb 2020
ion has announced an investigation into four Mississippi prisons, a month after deadly riots led to prolonged lockdowns. Justice Department officials will look into conditions at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, the South Mississippi Correctional Institution in Leakesville, Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl and the privately operated Wilkinson County Correctional
Data completeness
74%How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Sources
- HIFLD Prison Boundaries
- HIFLD dataset query
- HIFLD Prison Boundaries — US Department of Homeland Security â HIFLD Open Data
- OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap Contributors
- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikidata (Q1434347)
- Wikipedia
- Wikimedia Commons
- See /data-sources for our overall methodology.
Cite this page
Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.
World Prisons. (2026). Mississippi State Penitentiary. Retrieved October 20, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/mississippi-state-penitentiary
"Mississippi State Penitentiary." World Prisons. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/mississippi-state-penitentiary.
@misc{worldprisons-mississippi-state-penitenti,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {Mississippi State Penitentiary},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/mississippi-state-penitentiary},
urldate = {2026-10-20}
}