Mule Creek State Prison Inmates
Mule Creek State Prison is operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, usually shortened to CDCR. It is a state prison, not a county jail, city lockup, or local booking center. That point controls the whole search process. Amador County Citizen RIMS is useful for people booked into the local jail after an arrest, but it is not the inmate roster for Mule Creek State Prison records. A person housed at Mule Creek has entered CDCR custody and should be searched through the state system.
The facility sits in Ione in Amador County, at the base of the Gold Country foothills. CDCR material describes the population as sentenced California state-prison custody, including minimum-, medium-, and maximum-security incarcerated people. Some people at Mule Creek may have been committed from Amador County, but many come from other California counties. For that reason, the commitment county shown in a state prison record is not the same thing as current location. Current location is the field that tells whether the person is at Mule Creek State Prison now.
Mule Creek State Prison Population
CDCR news and facility context report that Mule Creek State Prison opened in 1987 and houses more than 3,800 minimum-, medium-, and maximum-security incarcerated people. The same research preserves a major facility history point: CDCR dedicated Facilities D and E in 2016, adding up to 1,584 medium-security beds and 94,000 square feet of space for rehabilitation classes, family visiting, teacher and counselor offices, and medical and mental-health support. Those figures should be read as sourced CDCR context, not as a live daily count.
A prison count can change as CDCR transfers people for classification, medical care, program placement, court needs, security reasons, or release processing. For a single person's status, the better record is not a population figure. It is the CIRIS result showing current location, CDCR number, admission date, and related detail fields. Population numbers help explain the size and role of Mule Creek State Prison within Amador County, while CIRIS is the tool for an individual inmate lookup.
Mule Creek CIRIS Lookup
The correct public lookup for Mule Creek State Prison inmates is CDCR California Incarcerated Records and Information Search, known as CIRIS. CIRIS can search by CDCR number or by name. A CDCR number is the most direct path when the family, attorney, or case record already has it. A name search requires a last name and can be narrowed with first name, middle name, age range, and commitment county fields.
- Open CIRIS and choose either CDCR number search or name search.
- For a name search, enter the last name first, then add first name or age filters only if needed.
- Review the results for full name, CDCR number, age, admission date, current location, and commitment counties.
- Use current location to confirm whether the person is housed at Mule Creek State Prison.
- Open any available detail links for Board of Parole Hearing information or map/location context.
When a search fails, the reason may be custody type rather than spelling. A new arrest in Amador County starts with the county jail and may appear on the Amador County jail inmate records path before any state prison transfer occurs. A federal sentenced prisoner belongs in the BOP locator, and an immigration detainee belongs in the ICE locator. CIRIS is for CDCR custody.
Mule Creek Inmate Search Fields
CIRIS has more search controls than a simple county jail name box. That matters for Mule Creek State Prison records because many people in CDCR custody may share a common last name, and a commitment county may not be Amador County. Use the fewest filters that identify the right person. Too many filters can hide a match if a middle name, age range, or county field is entered wrong.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Options / Format Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search by CDCR Number | Radio | Choose one search mode | Direct lookup by state prison number. |
| Search by Name | Radio | Choose one search mode | Name-search route for people without a CDCR number. |
| CDCR Number | Text | Required for number search | The app uppercases the entry before lookup. |
| Last Name | Text | Required for name search | The name-search API sends lastName for every name query. |
| First Name | Text | Optional | Narrows common-name results. |
| Middle Name | Text | Optional | Narrows results when known. |
| Age Min / Age Max | Dropdown or number | Optional | Filters by age range when not left at default. |
| Commitment Counties | Multiselect or dropdown | Optional | Can narrow by county of commitment, not current prison location. |
| Results table sort | Sort control | Optional | Sorts by CDCR number, age, name, admission date, current location, or commitment county. |
Mule Creek Prison vs Jail
Amador County has more than one custody system in play. The local jail and Mule Creek State Prison are both physically tied to the county, but they serve different legal roles. A county jail record usually follows arrest, booking, bail, court dates, and short local custody. A state prison record follows conviction, sentence, CDCR intake, classification, and placement in a CDCR institution.
| Question | Amador County Jail | Mule Creek State Prison |
|---|---|---|
| Who operates it? | Amador County Sheriff's Office Corrections Division. | California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. |
| Who is held there? | Sentenced and unsentenced county jail inmates, including recent bookings. | Sentenced California state-prison population. |
| Which lookup applies? | Amador Citizen RIMS and sheriff records channels. | CDCR CIRIS by CDCR number or name. |
| What does location mean? | Local jail housing or booking status. | Current CDCR institution or custody location. |
| What if neither search works? | Check timing, release, records request, or another custody type. | Check BOP for federal custody or ICE for immigration detention when facts point that way. |
VINELink California can support notification registration, but it is not a substitute for the official custody system. Use it as a notification tool after checking the right locator for the custody type.
Mule Creek Address and Phone
Use CDCR contact information for facility-level questions about Mule Creek State Prison. The prison's main phone is not a county jail information line, and staff should not be expected to answer county booking, bail, or Amador Superior Court case questions. For mail, CDCR lists a post office box for the institution. Any person-specific mailing format should still be checked against CDCR's current family and friends rules before anything is sent.
Mule Creek State Prison
4001 Highway 104
Ione, CA 95640
(209) 274-4911
Mailing address: P.O. Box 409099, Ione, CA 95640
Visiting approval, scheduling, mail, money, packages, and phone rules follow statewide CDCR procedures.
Mule Creek Prison Visits
Visiting at Mule Creek State Prison is handled through CDCR's statewide prison visiting process. That is different from the Amador County Jail's local visiting schedule. State prison visitors generally need approval and scheduling through CDCR before travel. The official Mule Creek page links visitors to statewide CDCR visiting and family resources, so current approval steps, allowed items, dress rules, cancellations, and visit availability should be checked there.
| Visiting Item | Mule Creek State Prison Rule Path | Practical Point |
|---|---|---|
| Approval | CDCR statewide visiting process. | Do not rely on county jail visitor approval. |
| Scheduling | CDCR visiting resources linked from the Mule Creek facility page. | Confirm the scheduled visit before traveling to Ione. |
| Identification | CDCR visitor rules. | Bring the ID required by CDCR, not a local jail rule sheet. |
| Security changes | Institution-level decisions. | Visits may be affected by prison operations or security needs. |
| Family resources | CDCR statewide family and friends pages. | Use those pages for money, packages, phone, mail, and visiting guidance. |
Note: Confirm approval and scheduling with CDCR before travel, because prison visits can change for operational or security reasons.
Mule Creek Mail and Money
Mail, phone, money, package, and contact rules for Mule Creek State Prison are CDCR rules. They are not the Amador County Jail's SmartDeposit, lobby kiosk, or county mail procedure. The research found that CDCR's Mule Creek page points families and friends to statewide CDCR pages for money, package, and contact information. That keeps one set of state rules for all CDCR prisons instead of a county-by-county system.
| Service | Correct Source | What Not to Use |
|---|---|---|
| CDCR mailing rules and Mule Creek mailing address. | Do not use Amador jail mail rules for state prisoners. | |
| Money | CDCR statewide family and friends money guidance. | Do not use the county jail deposit code. |
| Packages | CDCR statewide package information. | Do not send packages based on county jail assumptions. |
| Phone contact | CDCR statewide phone and contact resources. | Do not call the sheriff's jail line for prison phone accounts. |
Mule Creek Prison Programs
CDCR's official Mule Creek material lists a broad program menu. The program list includes Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Criminals and Gang-members Anonymous, reentry groups, Christian 12-Step, anger management and self-awareness, Gavel Club, veterans and lifers support groups, writing and self-exploration, Victim Awareness Offender Program, Juvenile Diversion Program, New Options for Wellness, Celebrate Recovery Inside, CARE, GRIP, Al-Anon, Alternatives to Violence Project, POOCH/TLC, and Paws for Life.
The 2016 Facilities D and E expansion also matters for programs because CDCR described space for rehabilitation classes, family visiting, teacher and counselor offices, and medical and mental-health support. Program access can depend on custody level, classification, housing, waitlists, discipline status, and institutional operations. A CIRIS lookup may tell where a person is housed in CDCR custody, but it does not replace facility and program staff for program eligibility questions.
Mule Creek Search Fallbacks
If a Mule Creek State Prison inmate search does not find the person, widen the check by custody system instead of repeating the same query many times. A person arrested in Amador County may be in local jail before sentencing, in CDCR after state-prison transfer, in BOP custody after a federal sentence, in U.S. Marshals-related custody during a federal case, or in ICE custody for an immigration matter. Each system keeps its own records.
- CDCR
- California's state prison agency and the operator of Mule Creek State Prison.
- CIRIS
- CDCR's public incarcerated-person search for state prison custody and current location.
- Commitment county
- The county tied to the conviction or sentence, which may differ from the current prison location.
- Current location
- The field that shows the present CDCR institution or custody site.
- Detainer
- A notice from another agency asking that custody or transfer issues be handled before release.
For federal sentenced custody, use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator. For immigration detention, use the ICE Online Detainee Locator System. Amador County is also within the federal Eastern District of California for U.S. Marshals context. These are fallback systems, not Mule Creek State Prison rosters.
Mule Creek Operations Context
Recent CDCR news is useful only as operations context. CDCR homicide investigation notices from 2023 and 2025 show that serious incidents at Mule Creek State Prison can involve prison investigators, the Office of the Inspector General, the Amador County District Attorney's Office, and the Amador County Coroner. Those notices do not change the basic lookup rule for families or the public: current custody status still starts with CIRIS, while criminal case filings and death investigation records follow the agencies that hold those records.
A later Inside CDCR item in 2026 described a Mule Creek investigative-services operation involving crime and contraband disruption. That kind of item may explain why prison operations, visits, mail, or movement can change with little public notice. It should not be read as a roster, a case disposition, or proof of an individual person's status. Confirm an individual record through the state locator and confirm travel-sensitive questions through CDCR before making plans.