This is the only Iowa prison that books visits at fixed start times, 8:00, 11:00 and 2:30, so you are reserving a slot rather than arriving inside a window. Connect with your loved one in minutes.
Connect with your loved one in minutes
Iowa State Penitentiary runs the tightest visiting schedule in the state and publishes it more precisely than anywhere else. Three fixed start times on Saturday and Sunday, two hours each, booked in the Ameelio Connect app. One visit per week, with the visiting week running Friday through Monday rather than Sunday to Saturday. Video on Monday and Friday, plus limited weekend slots. And one condition families need to know before they book: anyone in segregation status does not get a contact visit.
| Day | Start times | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday | 8:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 2:30 PM | 2 hours |
| Sunday | 8:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 2:30 PM | 2 hours |
Every other Iowa prison publishes an opening time and a closing time and leaves you to work out the rest. This one publishes the actual start times, which is more useful and less forgiving.
You are booking 8:00 AM specifically, not two hours beginning whenever you get through the door. Arriving at 8:40 does not buy you until 10:40. Reservations go through the Ameelio Connect app, and the facility states that in capitals.
The facility’s own wording: the number of visits allowed per visiting week is subject to change, and currently incarcerated individuals are limited to one visit per week. The visiting week is Friday through Monday.
Two things follow from that definition, and both catch families out.
A visiting week that runs Friday through Monday is not a calendar week. A Saturday visit and the following Sunday visit fall in the same visiting week, so they count as two. A Sunday visit and the Saturday six days later fall in different weeks.
And because the limit is one, a family spread across several households has to coordinate. Two relatives booking independently will use the week between them.
| Day | Hours | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM | 50 minutes |
| Friday | 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM | 50 minutes |
The facility adds that there are limited video visits available on the weekend, and points families at the Ameelio app to check availability rather than publishing those hours.
Iowa charges nothing for video. Given the one-visit-per-week limit on in-person visits and the drive to Lee County, this is where most contact actually happens.
Stated plainly on the facility’s page: incarcerated individuals in a segregation status do not have contact visits.
What Iowa does not publish is what replaces it. There is no stated non-contact schedule, no separate booking route, and no explanation of how long a status lasts.
Iowa’s Daily Statistics page gave this prison 153 people in medical or segregation status on September 9, 2026, the second-highest count in the state, so this is not a rare situation. Ring the visit line on 319-376-4850 and ask what is available before you book anything.
The facility publishes both and gives each a job.
319-372-5432 is the main line.
319-376-4850 is published for questions specifically about your loved one’s visit, listed as ISP Information.
For trouble with the Ameelio app itself, the facility points at Iowa Support rather than at either number, since the app is not run by the prison.
None of the above is available until you are on the approved visiting list.
Form OP-MTV-04 F-1, the Iowa Department of Corrections Visitor Application, revised August 13, 2026. Every adult files their own and children go on a parent or guardian’s form. Iowa does not accept it electronically. Print it, sign it and post it:
Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility
Attn: Central Records
1200 E. Washington St.
Mount Pleasant, IA 52641
One Central Visiting Authority handles all nine prisons, so an application to visit Fort Madison goes to Mount Pleasant, about an hour up the road. The help line is 319-385-9511.
A decision takes up to 30 days, and Iowa notifies the incarcerated person rather than you.
Alongside the basics it wants previous last names, your Social Security number, your spouse’s name, your address with county, and for each child under 18 their name, date of birth, Social Security number, sex and relationship.
Then the history: pending charges, all arrests including juvenile ones, every misdemeanour and felony conviction, deferred judgments, any past supervision with its ID number and discharge date, whether you have been involved in the illegal use of drugs, any work or volunteering for the department, and every visiting list you have ever been on.
Iowa’s instruction on the form: do not leave blanks or provide false information, because that will cause the application to be denied.
Policy allows immediate family, six other individuals or groups who are friends or extended family, and minor children supervised by a parent or legal guardian.
A minor visiting with an approved adult who is not their parent needs a notarized letter of consent, received by the Central Visiting Authority in advance.
Outside immediate family, a visitor may be on only one incarcerated person’s list. A child turning 18 has 30 days to file their own application.
Disqualified: anyone under correctional supervision, under indictment, involved in escape or contraband, anyone who falsified an application, and victims and their households. A convicted felon who is not immediate family generally needs three years of successful community adjustment.
A denial means six months before reapplying unless you appeal, and an appeal must be postmarked within 45 days of the denial letter on form OP-MTV-04 F-3A.
Everyone aged 13 and over needs their own Ameelio account.
Registration takes three photographs: the front of your ID, the back of it, and you holding the ID with its photo facing the camera, wearing a shirt with sleeves and nothing inappropriate behind you.
Booking a slot is not the same as being cleared for it. Ameelio schedules and the department approves.
For video visits, everyone aged 16 and over shows valid identification at the start: a state driver’s licence, another state photo ID, a current passport, or a military ID for active service. You supply the device and the connection. Iowa may record video visits and review them afterwards, and a visit ends at once if an unapproved person appears on camera or anybody records it.
Applied statewide, and printed on the back of the visitor application.
| Occurrence | Consequence |
|---|---|
| First | Next two visiting days, and future visits may be non-contact |
| Second | Seven visiting days |
| Third | Fifteen visiting days |
| Fourth | Thirty visiting days, plus 180 days non-contact |
| Refusing the scan | Fifteen calendar days |
At a prison offering one visit a week, losing the next two visiting days is a fortnight. Wash your hands before you go in, since traces transfer from bags, hands and car seats.
6 of 8 questions
At 8:00 AM, 11:00 AM or 2:30 PM on Saturday or Sunday, for two hours each. This is the only Iowa prison that publishes fixed start times instead of an opening and closing time, so you are reserving a specific slot rather than arriving inside a window. All reservations go through the Ameelio Connect app.
VisitationOne per visiting week, and the facility defines the visiting week as Friday through Monday rather than as a calendar week. Its page adds that the number allowed is subject to change. A Saturday and the following Sunday sit in the same visiting week and would count as two.
VisitationNot with a contact visit. The facility states that incarcerated individuals in a segregation status do not have contact visits, and it does not publish what is offered instead. With 153 people in medical or segregation status on September 9, 2026, this is common enough to check first. Ring 319-376-4850.
VisitationMonday and Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, in fifty-minute sessions. The facility also says limited video visits are available at weekends and tells families to check availability in the Ameelio app rather than publishing those hours. Iowa charges nothing for video visits.
Visitation319-376-4850 for anything about a specific person's visit, which the facility publishes separately as ISP Information. 319-372-5432 is the general line for the prison. For problems with the Ameelio app itself, the facility points families at Iowa Support instead, since the app is not run by the prison.
VisitationFile form OP-MTV-04 F-1, the Iowa DOC Visitor Application. Iowa does not accept it electronically, so print it, sign it and post it to Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility, Attn: Central Records, 1200 E. Washington St., Mount Pleasant, IA 52641. One office handles all nine prisons and a decision takes up to 30 days.
VisitationIowa notifies the incarcerated person rather than the visitor, and asks that you do not attempt to visit until they have told you. If a month passes with nothing, the Central Visiting Authority help line is 319-385-9511. Fort Madison is in the far southeast corner of Iowa, so this is not a trip to make on an assumption.
VisitationIowa applies a fixed schedule printed on the back of the visitor application. A first positive costs the next two visiting days, which at one visit a week means about a fortnight, and may make later visits non-contact. A second costs seven visiting days, a third fifteen, and a fourth thirty plus 180 days of non-contact status. Refusing costs fifteen calendar days.
VisitationThe offender number the visitor application asks for first.
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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.