Locate Minnesota Correctional Facility - Willow River Inmates

Willow River Prison Overview

Minnesota Correctional Facility - Willow River is the Pine County site of the Minnesota Department of Corrections Challenge Incarceration Program. It is not a county jail, booking center, or pretrial detention facility. The DOC identifies Willow River as a Level 1 Minimum custody facility. Its population is made up of sentenced adult male offenders who meet DOC and program eligibility, generally involving nonviolent drug or property offense histories, and who are assigned to the intensive first phase of the program.

The Challenge Incarceration Program was mandated by the Minnesota Legislature in 1992. DOC describes Phase 1 at Willow River as a six-month intensive boot-camp style program for eligible men, followed by supervised release phases in the community. A person in Pine County Jail may later appear in the DOC locator after sentencing and transfer, but a person housed at Willow River should be searched through DOC from the start. County roster charges and DOC sentence records answer different questions.

The DOC Willow River facility page is the source for the facility description, contact information, Challenge Incarceration Program overview, and visiting schedule.

The screenshot confirms that Willow River is a DOC facility with prison visiting rules and DOC program details, not a Pine County jail roster page.

Willow River Inmate Population

The DOC facility profile dated May 28, 2026 reports 151 adult offenders under case responsibility and 151 onsite at Willow River. DOC also states that Phase 1 of the Challenge Incarceration Program can serve up to 180 men. The same profile reports 256 active sentences, an average of 1.7 active sentences per offender, and an average active sentence length of 64 months. These are state-prison program figures, not Pine County jail booking counts.

Look Up Willow River Inmates

Use the Minnesota DOC Offender Locator for inmates at Minnesota Correctional Facility - Willow River. The locator covers adults committed to the Commissioner of Corrections who remain under DOC jurisdiction, including people in prison and people released from prison but still under supervision. DOC warns that newly sentenced people may take several business days to appear. The county jail roster may still show a person before transfer, but it is not the correct long-term source for Willow River custody.

1. Open the MNDOC Offender Locator and choose a name search or a six-digit MNDOC Offender ID search.
2. Enter first name and last name, or enter the full offender ID if it is known.
3. Review matching DOC results and confirm the listed location is Minnesota Correctional Facility - Willow River.
4. Use the DOC detail page for offense, court file, status, and facility context, then contact DOC records or the facility for questions the locator does not answer.

The DOC public viewer can include MNDOC Offender ID, DOC name, other known names, birth date, highest ranked offense, court file links, and links to Minnesota Courts and BCA information. It is distinct from a booking roster. Charges in a jail record are allegations from an arrest or booking event. DOC locator entries reflect a sentenced state-corrections case under DOC jurisdiction.

Willow River Address and Contact

Facility questions should go to DOC or the facility, not Pine County Jail. The county sheriff does not approve Willow River visits, control DOC program placement, or answer DOC sentence questions. DOC central records can address broader prison record questions, while the facility handles visiting, local program, and facility-specific contact needs. Email for the facility is listed in the research as MCF-Willow-River-Moose-Lake.doc@state.mn.us.

Willow River Prison Visits

Willow River visiting is application-based and scheduled in advance. DOC rules are stricter than a county jail lobby visit. The Willow River page says visiting applications are mailed to MCF-Rush City for processing. Program participants receive up to two one-hour visits per month, with one visit allowed per authorized day. Up to three approved visitors may attend at one time. Clear Tag squads visit Saturdays and Green Tag squads visit Sundays, so the person's assigned squad matters before a trip is planned.

Willow River Mail and Phone

Mail, phone, and money rules for Willow River follow Minnesota DOC policy rather than Pine County Jail rules. The research source confirms free calls at DOC facilities and notes that, beginning May 14, 2025, completed calls have a 15-minute wait before another call can be made. The research did not locate a Willow River-specific public fee table for money deposits or commissary charges, so no deposit amount or fee should be stated. For mail, use the person's DOC name and offender ID when available, because DOC records use the state offender ID rather than a county booking number.

Because Willow River is a DOC prison, a Pine County Jail money order, JailATM deposit, or Reliance jail phone account should not be used for someone housed there unless DOC separately instructs otherwise.

Willow River DOC Intake

Willow River does not book street arrests. A person reaches this facility after a criminal case results in a DOC commitment and DOC assigns the person to the Challenge Incarceration Program. Classification, program eligibility, supervision phase, and transfer timing are handled through DOC. The Pine County jail roster may show a local arrest and bond while the case is pending, and MCRO may show the filed court case, but Willow River custody is a later state-prison stage.

The program is structured in phases. Phase 1 is the intensive prison-based period at Willow River for eligible men. Phases 2 and 3 are generally supervised in the community. That means a DOC locator result may remain relevant after a person leaves the facility, because DOC jurisdiction can continue under supervision. The facility page, DOC locator, and DOC records should be read together when location, status, and supervision questions overlap.

About Willow River CIP

Willow River's DOC profile gives a more detailed population picture than the county jail sources. The May 28, 2026 profile reports race categories of 50 percent White, 35 percent Black, 10 percent American Indian or Alaskan Native, 3 percent Asian or Pacific Islander, and 1 percent unknown, with 5 listed as Hispanic ethnicity. The profile also reports that 87 percent had a verified high school diploma or GED and that all were Minnesota commitments. Top counties of commitment included Hennepin, Ramsey, Blue Earth, Nobles, Clay, and Olmsted.

Offense categories listed in the profile include drugs, weapons, DWI, burglary, domestic assault, and assault. Those categories do not mean every person at Willow River has the same offense or the same release date. They describe the population snapshot from the DOC profile. For individual status, use the DOC locator, court file links, and DOC records channels. For Pine County cases that have not reached DOC commitment, use MCRO and the Pine County Jail roster instead.