Sherburne County Inmate Population Overview
The Sherburne County inmate population is split between two very different systems. The local count starts at the Sherburne County Jail, the Elk River jail run by the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office. That facility holds people arrested in Sherburne County, people serving local jail sentences, and people held for other agencies. The official jail page says the population can include ICE detainees, U.S. Marshals detainees, Bureau of Indian Affairs detainees, and other agency holds. That multi-agency mix is a key local fact, because a name on the jail roster may not mean the case is only a Sherburne County case.
The state-prison side is separate. Minnesota Correctional Facility - St. Cloud is a Minnesota Department of Corrections prison and intake center for men committed to the Commissioner of Corrections. It sits close enough to matter for local searches, but it is not part of the county roster. A person arrested in Sherburne County may start in the jail, appear in district court, and later move to a DOC facility after a prison sentence. Until that transfer occurs, the county jail, the court, and the DOC may each hold a different part of the record.
Sherburne County Inmate Population Statistics
The best official figures in the research file come from the 2024 Minnesota DOC inspection, the Sherburne County Jail PREA audit material, and the Minnesota DOC daily profile for MCF-St. Cloud. These are report values, not a live head count. They are still useful because they show scale. Sherburne County Jail is built as a large regional jail, while MCF-St. Cloud is a state prison intake center with its own DOC population count.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Sherburne County Jail average daily population | 315 | PREA audit facility characteristics, past 12 months |
| Sherburne County Jail current population at audit | 319 | PREA audit facility characteristics |
| Approved secure coed jail capacity | 732 beds | Minnesota DOC inspection, inspected 05/07/2024 |
| Operational jail capacity at 95% | 695.40 beds | Minnesota DOC inspection, 2024 |
| MCF-St. Cloud on-site population | 1,021 | DOC Daily Inmate Profile, 06/02/2026 |
Sherburne County Inmate Population Trends
Official Sherburne County sources did not publish a full multi-year jail average-daily-population series in the research file. The available trend picture is narrower. The PREA audit reported a jail average daily population of 315 for the prior twelve months and a current audit-day population of 319. The 2024 DOC inspection then confirmed the same 732-bed approved capacity and 695.40 operational capacity. The PREA material also said the jail had not been over capacity in the prior twelve months.
Federal and immigration use can change the Sherburne County inmate population without changing the building. The county still lists ICE, U.S. Marshals, BIA, and other agency populations as part of the jail's role. News context in the research file says ICE counts have shifted in recent years, so the reliable way to discuss that topic is to separate the official custody channels from any claim about today's ICE head count.
| Year | Average Daily Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PREA audit period | 315 jail ADP | Average daily population for the past 12 months |
| PREA audit day | 319 in jail | Current facility population in audit material |
| 2024 DOC inspection | 732 beds | Approved secure coed capacity, not a live population count |
| 06/02/2026 | 1,021 at MCF-St. Cloud | DOC daily profile on-site state-prison population |
Who Makes Up Sherburne County Custody
The Sherburne County Jail count is broader than people arrested by local deputies. County and audit material describe a jail that holds females and males, adults across all facility custody levels, and some youthful inmates where allowed by law and classification. The population includes local pretrial detainees, sentenced local jail inmates, ICE detainees, U.S. Marshals detainees, Bureau of Indian Affairs detainees, and other agency holds. A detainer is a hold or request from another agency. It can keep a person in custody even when a local bond amount appears on the jail record.
- Local jail custody - Sherburne County arrests, warrant surrenders, local sentences, and people awaiting court can appear in the county locator.
- Federal and immigration holds - The county jail page identifies ICE, U.S. Marshals, BIA, and other agency populations as part of the jail's role.
- State prison custody - MCF-St. Cloud holds sentenced adult men under Minnesota DOC jurisdiction, not county-jail detainees.
- Age and sex detail - PREA material says the jail holds both females and males and lists an age range of 18 to 99.
Sherburne County Jail Capacity
The Sherburne County Jail is listed by the county as a 732-bed regional facility. The 2024 Minnesota DOC inspection reported 732 approved secure coed beds and calculated the 95% operational capacity at 695.40 beds. Against the PREA audit's 315 average daily population, that is about 45.3% of operational capacity. Against the audit-day population of 319, it is about 43.6% of the approved bed count. Those percentages should not be read as today's live occupancy, but they show that the sourced audit period did not document crowding over the bed limit.
Capacity also affects the way users should search. A person held in Elk River may be there for Sherburne County, ICE, the U.S. Marshals Service, BIA, or another agency. If the county roster result is unclear, the jail phone line and the correct federal locator matter. If the person has been sentenced to prison, the jail capacity figures no longer tell the searcher where to look.
Sherburne County Jail Record Laws
Minnesota law controls what jail, arrest, corrections, and criminal-history data can be released. Public access starts with the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, but not every jail detail is public. Investigative data, security-sensitive detention data, and private information can be withheld or redacted. That is why a jail roster can show a booking photo, bail field, court date, and custody date while leaving out investigative reports or internal security details.
Key Statutes:
Minn. Stat. section 13.03 - government data are public unless another law classifies them otherwise.
Minn. Stat. section 13.82 - law-enforcement data includes public arrest data and booking photographs, with exceptions.
Minn. Stat. section 13.85 - corrections and detention data may be limited when release would threaten safety, investigations, or facility security.
Minn. Stat. section 241.021 and Minnesota Rules chapter 2911 - the DOC inspection and jail-standards authority behind local adult detention facility oversight.
Sherburne County and State Prison
State prison custody begins after a court sentence commits a person to the Minnesota Commissioner of Corrections. For a Sherburne County case, that usually means the person first passes through the local jail and Sherburne County District Court. Once the person leaves local custody for DOC custody, the Minnesota DOC public locator is the right search tool. The research notes that newly sentenced people may take several business days to display in the DOC locator, so a short gap between jail and prison systems is possible.
MCF-St. Cloud is the most important state-prison facility for this local site because it is nearby and serves as the male intake center. Its DOC Daily Inmate Profile dated 06/02/2026 reported 1,115 adult offenders under case responsibility and 1,021 on site. That state-prison population is not part of the Sherburne County Jail count, but it is relevant when a search moves from arrest and booking to a prison commitment.
Search the Sherburne County Jail Roster
The official starting point for a current Sherburne County jail inmate is the county Inmate Search page, which links to the Sherburne County Inmate Locator. The roster searches people currently in custody at the Sherburne County Jail. The county also points users to ICE's locator for a detainee who is currently in ICE custody or was released from ICE custody within the past 60 days.
Use the county locator when the person is likely in the Elk River jail. Use a state or federal locator when the person has been sentenced, transferred, or held under another authority. The roster itself warns that the Sheriff's Office cannot guarantee accuracy and that booking does not establish guilt. Treat roster data as a lead, then confirm legal action with court administration, the jail, or the agency that owns the record.
- Open the county Inmate Search page, then choose the Sherburne County Jail database link.
- Enter the last name first. Add a first name when common names create too many results.
- Use gender only when known. The interface includes Unknown, Male, and Female.
- Add the four-digit birth year when identity needs to be narrowed.
- Select the person in Search Results, then review Inmate Details and case-detail prompts.
- If the person is sentenced to prison, search the Minnesota DOC locator instead.
Sherburne County Inmate Lookup Fields
The county search form is simple, but it still has enough fields to reduce false matches. Last name and first name are plain text fields. Gender is a radio option. Date of birth is entered as a year, not a full date. The public interface also offers language links for English, Spanish, French, and German, which can help families who need the same roster path in another language.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Name | Text | Unspecified | Best first search field when the spelling is known. |
| First Name | Text | Unspecified | Use to narrow common last-name results. |
| Gender | Radio option | Unspecified | Unknown, Male, and Female are visible options. |
| DOB (yyyy) | Year text | Unspecified | Four-digit birth year format shown by the portal. |
| Language selector | Page control | No | English, Espanol, Francais, and Deutsch links appear. |
The official county locator screenshot in the manifest shows the search form for last name, first name, gender, and birth year at the Sherburne County Inmate Locator.
The image reinforces the main search rule: start broad with a name, then add birth year or gender only when the result list needs tightening.
Past Sherburne County Inmate Records
The county locator is built for people currently in custody. The research did not find an official archive showing how long released people remain visible after release. When the roster no longer shows a person, use the Sheriff's Data Requests page for booking records, incident reports, booking photos, or other sheriff data that is not online. The request should describe the data sought, state whether inspection, copies, or both are requested, and give enough facts to find the record.
For a local request, include the date and time of the incident, the Incident Complaint Number or case number if known, the location, and names of victims, complainants, or other parties. Sherburne County says the Records Division will respond within ten business days with the data or with details on when it will be ready and what it will cost. Records email is Records@co.sherburne.mn.us, and the Records phone line is 763-765-3569.
What a Sherburne County Inmate Record Shows
A Sherburne County jail roster profile combines identity, physical-description, custody, money, court, and image fields. It is not the same as the official court file. The roster can help confirm that someone is in jail and can show a court date or bail/fine amount, but the court record controls formal charges, case events, and certified copies.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Image / Click to View Image | Booking photo access if an image is available for the selected inmate. |
| Race, Sex-Age, Height, Weight, Hair, Eye | Basic identity and physical-description fields from the public interface. |
| Bail/Fine amount | Displayed money amount tied to the custody or case record, if shown. |
| Custody Date | Date the person entered custody or was recorded in jail custody. |
| Booking Status | Status value for the booking or custody entry. |
| Court Date and Court Branch Info | Hearing date and court-location detail where the roster publishes it. |
| Case Details | The interface instructs users to double-click to view case details. |
Sherburne County Jail vs State Prison
Most search errors happen when jail and prison are treated as one system. Sherburne County Jail is the local custody point for arrest, booking, warrants, local jail sentences, and contract holds. Minnesota DOC custody is for people committed after sentencing and still under DOC jurisdiction, whether in prison or under supervision. Federal and immigration custody adds another layer because Sherburne County Jail can hold detainees for federal agencies while BOP and ICE maintain separate locators.
| County Jail | State Prison (DOC) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who Is Held | Pretrial detainees, local sentenced inmates, ICE, USMS, BIA, and other agency holds | Adults committed to the Commissioner of Corrections |
| Run By | Sherburne County Sheriff's Office | Minnesota Department of Corrections |
| Where to Look | Sherburne County Inmate Locator | Minnesota DOC public locator |
| Timing | Current jail custody appears through the county roster | New prison commitments may take several business days to display |
State and Federal Inmate Search
Use the Minnesota DOC locator for adults committed to the Commissioner of Corrections and still under DOC jurisdiction. Use the Federal Bureau of Prisons locator for federal sentenced prisoners from 1982 forward. Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator System for current ICE custody and recent ICE releases. For ICE detainee information tied to Sherburne County Jail Services, the ICE facility page says information may be requested at 763-765-3800 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
VINELink is not a full records system, but it is useful for custody status and alerts. Sherburne County Victim Services says VINE can be used by phone, internet, or email to search custody status and register for release, escape, transfer, or court-appearance notifications. The toll-free VINE number listed in the research is 1-877-664-8463. No official Sherburne County Sheriff's Office mobile app was found, so no app-only roster or warrant feature should be expected.
Sherburne County Detention Facilities
The facility map has two entries. The Sherburne County Jail is the primary local facility and the only county jail found in official sources. MCF-St. Cloud is included because it is the local state-prison facility that matters after sentencing, but it must be searched through the DOC, not through the county roster.
- Sherburne County Jail - local jail custody, local sentences, ICE, U.S. Marshals, BIA, and other agency holds in Elk River.
- Minnesota Correctional Facility - St. Cloud - Minnesota DOC state-prison intake and Level 4 Close custody for sentenced adult men.
Sherburne County Inmate Population FAQ
How large is the Sherburne County jail population?
The PREA audit material reported a Sherburne County Jail average daily population of 315 for the prior twelve months and 319 people in custody on the audit day. The 2024 DOC inspection listed 732 approved secure coed beds. Those figures are dated report values, not a live roster count.
How do I search the Sherburne County inmate population?
Use the Sherburne County Inmate Locator for current county-jail custody. Search by last name, add first name or birth year when needed, then open Inmate Details. If the person has moved to prison, use the Minnesota DOC locator. If the person is in ICE or federal custody, use ODLS or BOP.
Can I find a released Sherburne County inmate?
The research did not find a county archive that promises released inmates stay online for a set period. For older booking records, use the Sheriff's Data Requests page and include the date, case or ICR number, location, and names if known. Court case history may also appear in MCRO.
Are Sherburne County booking photos public?
The county locator includes a Click to View Image control when a selected profile has a booking image. Minnesota law treats booking photographs as public law-enforcement data in Minn. Stat. section 13.82, subject to exceptions and redactions. No official recent-bookings gallery was found.