Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison is the only maximum-security prison in the state, and it runs on a tighter clock than anywhere else in Iowa. Visits start at three fixed times on Saturday and Sunday rather than any time inside a window, and the facility currently allows one visit per week across a visiting week that runs Friday through Monday. It also does a job for the rest of the state that almost no family knows about: phone credit, restitution, court filing fees and child support for all nine Iowa prisons are administered from this address.
City
Fort Madison
County
Lee County
State
IA
Facility Type
state prison
Capacity
Approx. 760
Custody Levels
Maximum
Operator
Iowa Department of Corrections
Address
2111 330th Ave., PO Box 316, Fort Madison, IA 52627
Phone
319-372-5432
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View Article8:00, 11:00 or 2:30, once a week, Friday through Monday.
View ArticleCommissary to Fort Dodge, phone and restitution to here.
View ArticleThe one business office in Iowa that can reinstate your line.
View ArticleA Nevada box for letters, a Fort Madison box for money.
View ArticleIowa runs one search for all nine prisons, narrowed here through the Location dropdown, with Starts With, Matches and Sounds Like name modes. Iowa's Daily Statistics page lists this facility as Fort Madison rather than Iowa State Penitentiary, which matters when you are comparing what the two pages say about population and capacity.
See the full breakdownThree fixed start times on Saturday and Sunday, 8:00 AM, 11:00 AM and 2:30 PM, two hours each, booked in the Ameelio Connect app. One visit per week across a Friday to Monday visiting week, video on Monday and Friday in fifty-minute sessions, and no contact visits for anyone in segregation status.
See the full breakdownCommissary money goes to the IDOC Offender Fiduciary Account at Fort Dodge like every other Iowa prison, carrying four required details. What is different is everything else: phone credit, restitution, court filing fees and child support for the whole state are administered from Fort Madison, so this facility is both a destination and an address other prisons' families use.
See the full breakdownSeven cents a minute to the lower 48, with calls going out only and your number needing to be added from inside. The ISP Business Office is the single place in Iowa that will act on a written request to unblock a telephone number, and it must come from the person who owns the number. Iowa names no phone vendor and publishes no call length.
See the full breakdownPersonal mail goes to PO Box 96777 in Las Vegas under the routing line Iowa State Penitentiary - 1110, where Pigeonly Corrections opens and scans it. The trap here is unique to this facility: Iowa publishes a Fort Madison PO Box on the address block, and that box is for money, not letters.
See the full breakdown6 of 7 questions
At 8:00 AM, 11:00 AM or 2:30 PM, on Saturday or Sunday, for two hours. Iowa State Penitentiary is the only Iowa prison that publishes fixed start times rather than an opening and closing time, so you are booking a specific slot rather than arriving within a window. All reservations go through the Ameelio Connect app.
VisitationOnce a week, and the facility defines the visiting week as Friday through Monday. Its own page adds that the number of visits allowed per visiting week is subject to change, so confirm before you plan around it. Limited video visits are also available at weekends through the Ameelio app.
VisitationNot in person with contact. The facility states plainly that incarcerated individuals in a segregation status do not have contact visits. It does not say what happens instead, so ring the visit line on 319-376-4850 and ask what form of visit is available.
VisitationBecause Iowa State Penitentiary runs the phone account system for the whole state. Its business office lockboxes phone deposits for all nine prisons, administers court filing fee payment plans, receives child support orders, and is the only place that will act on a request to unblock a telephone number.
Send MoneyTo the person's name and offender number, then the line Iowa State Penitentiary - 1110, then PO Box 96777, Las Vegas, NV 89193. Iowa returns to sender any non-legal mail posted to the prison itself, which at this facility is easy to get wrong because the department publishes a Fort Madison PO Box for money on the same address block as the street address.
MailNot the same buildings. The current Iowa State Penitentiary was built in 2014 and opened in 2015 at 2111 330th Avenue. It remains the only maximum-security prison in Iowa, and its capacity is described as approximately 760.
General319-372-5432 is the main line for the facility. 319-376-4850 is published separately for questions specifically about your loved one's visit. For trouble with the Ameelio app itself, the facility points families at Iowa Support rather than at either number.
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All information on this page comes directly from official government and facility sources. How we verify information › Last verified September 9, 2026. Official source: doc.iowa.gov/districts-prisons/iowa-state-penitentiary ›