What Happens During Admission & Orientation at MDOC (what families should expect)
The first days in MDOC focus on intake, testing, and deciding where your loved one will be housed long-term. Here's what typically happens during Admission and Orientation, and how it affects what you may hear (or not hear) right away.
Everyone starts in "unclassified" reception housing while MDOC completes initial processing. For men newly committed to MDOC (or returned on violations), that means designated unclassified housing at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF). Women newly committed or returned on violations go to a designated unclassified unit. These are temporary reception assignments used for processing and early decisions, not permanent housing.
Admission and Orientation is when MDOC starts gathering the information needed to classify your loved one. This phase includes an introduction to the classification process, general MDOC orientation, and a copy of the MDOC Inmate Handbook. The handbook is a helpful starting point. For families, the key thing to know is that orientation is where your loved one learns the rules, expectations, and a roadmap for what comes next.
- ✓ HIV/AIDS class, including how the virus is contracted and prevention methods
- ✓ Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) training
- ✓ DNA testing during Admission and Orientation
Initial classification is when MDOC assigns a custody rating using its Objective Classification system. This is a scoring process that establishes the custody level. Until classification is complete, MDOC treats both men and women as Close custody (close supervision). That "Close custody" label during reception reflects the intake phase and supervision while scoring is still in progress. It's not necessarily the final custody level your loved one will have.
Practical takeaway: Early on, your loved one may be handled as Close custody because initial classification is still in progress. The Objective Classification score is what MDOC uses to set the longer-term custody rating once that process is complete.
MDOC issues the Inmate Handbook during Admission and Orientation. It provides general information for incarcerated people and anyone trying to understand how MDOC works. Keep in mind: the handbook is not a substitute for current MDOC policy. If there's a conflict, the policy in effect at the time is what staff will follow. So if something your loved one tells you doesn't match the handbook, orientation is where more facility-level procedures and expectations get introduced.
Family Actions
- ✓ Has Admission and Orientation started, including the introduction to initial classification and MDOC orientation?
- ✓ Has your loved one been issued the MDOC Inmate Handbook yet?
- ✓ Has DNA testing been completed as part of Admission and Orientation?
- ✓ Have the required classes been covered yet (HIV/AIDS class and PREA training)?
- ✓ Has initial classification been completed, or are they still being treated as Close custody while scoring and approval are pending?
- ✓ Has the Objective Classification scoring been completed to establish the custody rating?
If your loved one is early in the process, frame everything as temporary. Men typically start in designated unclassified housing at CMCF, and women start in a designated unclassified unit, while MDOC completes intake and classification. During this window, everyone is treated as Close custody until initial classification wraps up. That means routines and restrictions may feel tighter than what they'll experience once their custody rating is set and they move to longer-term placement.
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