The Pine County Inmate Population
The Pine County inmate population is not one list. The local jail population is held by the Pine County Sheriff's Office at the Pine County Jail, also called the Pine County Detention Center in the Minnesota Department of Corrections inspection file. That jail is the place to check for adult men and women held before trial, held for local court, or serving a short local sentence. The county roster is the first official online source for that group.
Two other official systems matter in Pine County. Minnesota Correctional Facility - Willow River is a state DOC facility in the county, but it does not use the county jail roster because it holds sentenced DOC offenders in the Challenge Incarceration Program. FCI Sandstone is a federal Bureau of Prisons facility, so its inmates are found through the BOP locator. A Pine County custody search works best when these channels are kept separate from the start.
Pine County Inmate Population Statistics
The strongest official Pine County jail population numbers come from the 2026 Minnesota DOC inspection and the county jail about page. The inspection lists 131 approved secure coed beds and an 85 percent operational capacity of 111.35. The county jail page also states that the jail is licensed for 131 inmates. No official average daily population or annual booking total was located in the county, state DOC, or inspection sources, so those figures are not stated as if they exist.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Pine County Jail approved capacity | 131 secure coed beds | Minnesota DOC inspection, 2026 |
| Pine County Jail operational capacity | 111.35 at 85 percent | Minnesota DOC inspection, inspected March 18, 2026 |
| Pine County Jail housing | Three housing units plus intake for 17 people in five areas | Pine County Jail about page |
| Willow River onsite population | 151 adult offenders | DOC facility profile, May 28, 2026 |
| FCI Sandstone population/capacity | Not located in available official text | BOP FCI Sandstone page |
Pine County Inmate Population Trends
Pine County's public trend record is more about capacity, inspection status, and oversight than daily head counts. The current jail opened in February 2008 after construction began in fall 2006, replacing the 1983 jail. The 2026 inspection kept the facility on biennial status and found substantial compliance, while also recording specific corrective items. That makes the inspection report the best local source for limits on the Pine County inmate population.
| Year or Date | Available Figure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| June 15, 2005 | 131 approved secure coed capacity | Capacity effective date in the 2026 DOC inspection table. |
| February 2008 | Current jail became operational | The county says the jail replaced the earlier 1983 facility. |
| April 9, 2024 | No JJDPA violations in legislative report excerpt | Pine County Detention Center inspection noted a rural exception. |
| March 18, 2026 | 131 approved beds; 111.35 operational capacity | Inspection recorded substantial compliance and biennial status. |
| Current ADP | Not published in located official sources | No official local daily or average population dashboard was found. |
Pine County Inmate Demographics
Pine County does not publish an aggregate demographic report for the county jail population in the official sources reviewed. The jail roster snippets show person-level fields such as race, gender, and age, but those entries should not be turned into countywide percentages. The richer demographic source is the Willow River DOC profile, which covers a sentenced state-prison population, not the local jail roster.
- County jail status: the county says the jail holds adult male and female pretrial detainees and sentenced local offenders.
- Roster demographics: roster snippets show race, gender, and age for listed inmates, but not a full DOB.
- Willow River age: the May 28, 2026 DOC profile reports an average age of 41 for onsite offenders.
- Willow River race: the same DOC profile reports 50 percent White, 35 percent Black, 10 percent American Indian or Alaska Native, 3 percent Asian or Pacific Islander, and 1 percent unknown.
- Federal custody: BOP locator results can show age, race, sex, release date, and location for federal inmates.
Pine County Jail Capacity
The Pine County Jail is built as a direct-supervision facility with three housing units, an intake area, court holding, medical unit, laundry, kitchen, recreation room, programming space, and master control. The county states that housing units include video visiting stations, inmate phones, basic TV programming, natural light, gaming tables, and common kitchen areas. Capacity is not just a bed count. The 2026 DOC inspection applies Minnesota local adult detention rules and sets the practical operating mark below the approved bed count.
The 2026 inspection found 119 of 126 mandatory rules and 99 of 101 essential rules in compliance. It also noted no JJDPA violations. Corrective items involved topics such as orientation paperwork, property receipts, emergency procedure review records, lock testing records, medication verification, sanitation checks, and fire-inspection records. No official Pine County jail death-in-custody release, consent decree, DOJ investigation, or new jail construction item was located in the official sources checked.
Pine County Jail Population Laws
Minnesota law shapes which Pine County inmate population records are public and which details may be held back. The local roster and records request process sit inside the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act framework, while jail operation and inspection are handled through DOC licensing rules. A booking entry may be public, but medical facts, security-sensitive facts, juvenile limits, active investigation data, and sealed court records can still narrow what is released.
Key Statutes:
Minn. Stat. 13.82 treats law enforcement arrest data and booking photographs as public data, with active-investigation and safety limits.
Minn. Stat. 13.85 protects certain corrections and detention data when release would expose medical, security, informant, or institutional safety information.
Minn. Stat. 641.05 requires the sheriff to keep a permanent jail record for people committed to jail.
Minn. Stat. 241.021 authorizes DOC inspection and licensing of local correctional facilities.
Minn. R. Ch. 2911 sets standards for local adult detention facility records, admissions, security, medical, welfare, sanitation, and operations.
Pine County State Prison Population
MCF-Willow River is physically in Pine County, but it belongs to the Minnesota Department of Corrections. The facility is a Level 1 minimum-security site for the Challenge Incarceration Program. DOC describes the first phase as a six-month intensive program for qualifying men, with later phases served in the community. It is not a county jail and should not be searched through the Pine County roster.
Sentenced people under DOC jurisdiction are searched through the Minnesota DOC Offender Locator. That locator covers adults committed to the Commissioner of Corrections who are in prison or released from prison while still under supervision. DOC warns that newly sentenced people may take several business days to appear, so a person who has just moved from Pine County court to state custody may not show at once.
The Willow River DOC page describes the facility and its visiting process. The DOC profile dated May 28, 2026 reports 151 onsite adult offenders, 256 active sentences, and an average active sentence length of 64 months. Those numbers describe Willow River's state-prison population, not the Pine County jail roster population.
Search the Pine County Jail Roster
The Pine County inmate population search for local custody starts on the official Pine County Jail roster page. The county links a current PDF roster and states that it is updated every hour. This is not a live web form with last-name fields. It is a public PDF list, so the practical search method is to open the file, use browser or PDF find, and then call the jail when the result is missing or unclear.
The roster can also be used as a bridge to other records. A listed charge may point to a formal court case in MCRO. A held-for agency may point to the Minnesota DOC, another county, tribal police, or another law-enforcement agency. A bond amount may show that court action has occurred, but the jail FAQ makes clear that court administration, not the jail, controls court appearances.
- Open the county jail roster page and choose the current Pine County Jail Inmate Roster PDF.
- Use the PDF find tool to search by last name, then review similar names and spelling variants.
- Read the held-for agency, charges, arrest date, and bond fields before assuming the person is held only for Pine County.
- Call jail inmate information at 320-629-8400 if the booking is very recent or the roster details do not answer the question.
- Check MCRO, the DOC locator, BOP, or ICE ODLS when the person is not in current county jail custody.
Current Pine County Inmate Lookup
Because the Pine County roster is a PDF, its fields are simpler than a vendor jail database. The county interface does not provide a search box, drop-down filter, or booking-number input. The search happens on the user's device after the PDF opens. This matters for people with common last names, since a PDF find may skip spelling variants or aliases that a database might group together.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inmate Roster PDF | Linked PDF | N/A | Official current roster linked by Pine County and updated hourly. |
| Browser/PDF find | User-side text search | No | Use Ctrl+F or the browser find tool for a last name or visible identifier. |
| Roster links | County page links | No | The jail page also links JailATM, Reliance phone, texting, video, and phone-card resources. |
The Pine County roster page confirms the hourly roster notice and the path to the current PDF before a user moves to jail, court, or records contacts.
The screenshot reflects the official county roster landing page, not a third-party database. Use the county page first, then use the jail phone line or records request route if the PDF does not answer the custody question.
Past Pine County Inmate Records
The Pine County roster is current-custody oriented, and the research did not locate an official retention period for released inmates on the public PDF. A person who bonded out, finished a local sentence, or transferred to state prison may leave the county roster even though court and sheriff records still exist. For past jail booking records, use the Sheriff's Records Unit and the Records Request Form rather than assuming the public roster is an archive.
The records fallback is local and concrete. The Pine County Sheriff's Records Unit is at 635 Northridge Drive NW Suite 100 in Pine City, with phone 320-629-8380, fax 320-629-8392, and email Records@pinecountymn.gov. The records forms page links a Records Request Form. The county did not publish a detailed fee table or turnaround time in the reviewed sources, so those details should be confirmed with the unit before relying on them.
For formal charges after a jail arrest, use Minnesota Court Records Online or Pine County District Court. MCRO is free for online document access in many public case types, but it is not the certified court record. Certified copies come from court administration.
What Pine County Inmate Records Show
Pine County roster entries appear as rows or blocks in a PDF rather than clickable profiles. Official snippets show enough detail to confirm custody and identify the next agency, but they do not show every field a larger jail vendor might show. No DOB, housing pod, booking time, magistrate name, height, weight, hair or eye color, or booking photo was located in the available official roster text.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Name | The person listed in current custody or in the roster report. |
| Number | Some snippets show numeric identifiers, but the exact format is not explained by the county page. |
| Race, gender, age | Basic demographic fields without full date of birth in the snippets reviewed. |
| Arrest date | The listed arrest or booking event date. |
| Held for | The agency or authority for custody, such as Pine County, MN DOC, tribal police, or another county. |
| Charges | Minnesota statute number plus a plain charge description. |
| Bond or bail | Dollar amount when set, with some entries blank or showing no useful amount. |
| Mugshot | Not located in official Pine County roster snippets, so online mugshots should not be promised. |
Pine County Jail vs Prison Lookup
Many failed inmate searches come from using the right name in the wrong system. The Pine County Jail roster covers current local jail custody. The Minnesota DOC locator covers adults committed to state corrections and still under DOC jurisdiction. The BOP locator covers federal inmates, including FCI Sandstone, from 1982 to present. ICE ODLS covers immigration detainees, and no ICE detention facility was located in Pine County official sources.
| Lookup Point | County Jail | State Prison | Federal Custody |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who is held | Pretrial adults and sentenced local offenders | Sentenced DOC offenders | Federal sentenced inmates |
| Run by | Pine County Sheriff's Office | Minnesota Department of Corrections | Federal Bureau of Prisons |
| Where to look | Hourly Pine County roster PDF | MNDOC Offender Locator | BOP Inmate Locator |
| Local facility | Pine County Jail | MCF-Willow River | FCI Sandstone |
State and Federal Inmate Search
The Minnesota DOC locator can search by first and last name or a six-digit MNDOC Offender ID. Name search begins with the typed letters and may include names tied to criminal convictions. DOC detail pages can include offender ID, DOC name, known aliases, birth date, highest ranked offense, court file numbers, links to MN Courts and BCA, and a note to contact the facility or DOC central records for status and sentence questions.
The BOP Inmate Locator searches federal inmates by register number, DCDC number, FBI number, INS number, or by name with age, race, and sex filters. It covers federal inmates from 1982 to present. The BOP warns that release dates may change due to sentence review and that a person marked released or not in BOP custody may still be under another criminal justice system.
Immigration detention uses ICE ODLS, which supports A-Number and country-of-birth search or a biographical search. Minnesota VINELink is a separate custody-notification tool, and the Pine County jail FAQ points victims to VINE and the toll-free number 1-866-664-8463.
Pine County Detention Facilities
Pine County is unusual because three official custody systems sit in or serve the county. A local arrest normally starts with the sheriff's jail roster. A prison sentence may move the person to DOC custody. A federal sentence at Sandstone is handled through the Bureau of Prisons. Facility pages should be used only after the custody system is known.
- Pine County Jail holds adult male and female pretrial detainees and sentenced local offenders for the Pine County Sheriff's Office.
- Minnesota Correctional Facility - Willow River holds sentenced adult male DOC offenders in the Challenge Incarceration Program.
- FCI Sandstone holds male federal sentenced inmates and is searched through the BOP locator.
Pine County Inmate Population FAQ
How big is the Pine County inmate population?
The official county jail ADP was not located in the reviewed sources. The known jail capacity is 131 approved secure coed beds, with 111.35 operational capacity in the 2026 Minnesota DOC inspection. Willow River reported 151 onsite adult offenders in the May 28, 2026 DOC profile.
How do I search the Pine County inmate population?
Start with the Pine County Jail roster PDF for current local jail custody. If the person is sentenced to state prison, use the MNDOC locator. If the person is in federal custody at FCI Sandstone, use the BOP locator. For immigration detention, use ICE ODLS.
Does the Pine County roster show mugshots?
The official Pine County roster snippets reviewed did not show booking photos, and no county mugshot gallery was located. Minnesota law generally treats booking photos as public data, but active investigation, safety, and detention-security limits may apply. Use the Sheriff's Records Unit for a request.
Where are Pine County court charges found?
Formal court records are found through MCRO and Pine County District Court. Jail roster charges are arrest or booking allegations. Prosecutors may later file different, amended, reduced, or additional charges.
Who runs the Pine County Jail?
The Pine County Sheriff's Office operates the jail. Sheriff Jeff Nelson is listed on the sheriff page, and the jail contacts identify Rod Williamson as Jail Administrator and Ryan Thompson as Assistant Jail Administrator.
Is there a Pine County sheriff app for inmate search?
No official Pine County sheriff or city police mobile app for roster, warrant, records, or inmate lookup functions was located in the research sweep.