Lincoln County Inmate Population Overview
The Lincoln County inmate population is held at one mapped local detention facility, the Lincoln County Jail in Ivanhoe. The Lincoln County Sheriff's Department operates the jail inside the Law Enforcement Center, directly behind the courthouse. The jail is not a state prison, federal prison, or immigration detention center. It handles local arrests, people awaiting Lincoln County District Court action, court transports, short local jail sentences, and limited juvenile holds only within state and federal rules.
Because the county jail is small, one arrest or release can change the Lincoln County inmate population by a large share of the bed count. The roster count is not fixed. It rises when people are booked after arrest, held on a warrant, remanded by court order, or sentenced to a local jail term. It falls when a person posts bond, is released on conditions, finishes a jail term, moves to court, or is transferred to another system. Sentenced felony prisoners from Lincoln County do not remain part of the county jail population once they enter Minnesota Department of Corrections custody.
Lincoln County Inmate Population Statistics
The best sourced Lincoln County inmate population figures come from Minnesota DOC inspection material, the sheriff's jail description, the current sheriff roster, and U.S. Census QuickFacts. The sheriff page says the jail is designed to hold up to 15 inmates. Minnesota DOC inspection sources list 15 approved secure coed beds and 12 operational beds, calculated at 80 percent of approved capacity. A 2021 DOC inspection snippet reported an average daily population of one and said the jail was clean, mostly free of major incidents, and had corrected earlier deficiencies.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Average daily population | 1 | Minnesota DOC Lincoln County Jail inspection, completed 05/03/2021 |
| Approved secure coed capacity | 15 beds | Lincoln County sheriff page and Minnesota DOC 2023/2025 inspection sources |
| Operational capacity | 12 beds | Minnesota DOC inspection material using 80 percent operating capacity |
| County population estimate | 5,564 | U.S. Census QuickFacts, July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Current roster count | Changes by roster run | Lincoln County Sheriff inmate roster |
The capacity-to-population context is useful, but it should be read with care. Fifteen approved beds for a county population estimate of 5,564 equals about 270 approved jail beds per 100,000 residents. The 2021 average daily population of one equals about 18 per 100,000 residents when compared against the 2024 estimate. Those two rates mix source years, so they are rough scale markers, not official same-year incarceration rates.
Lincoln County Jail Capacity Trends
Lincoln County's recent official trend record is more about capacity stability than rising jail population pressure. Minnesota DOC materials reviewed for 2023 and 2025 showed the same approved capacity and operational-capacity framework. The 2025 inspection source renewed authority to operate from 06/01/2025 to 05/31/2027. The 2023 inspection source covered the prior operating window from 06/01/2023 to 05/31/2025. No official source reviewed showed chronic overcrowding, population-driven litigation, a consent decree, or a jail construction bond tied to crowding.
| Year | ADP / Capacity Metric | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | ADP 1 | DOC inspection noted a clean facility, corrected deficiencies, and biennial inspection placement. |
| 2023 | 15 approved / 12 operational beds | DOC authority to operate covered 06/01/2023 through 05/31/2025. |
| 2025 | 15 approved / 12 operational beds | DOC authority to operate covers 06/01/2025 through 05/31/2027. |
| Current | Roster count varies | The roster run date and time are the source for a live count. |
Who Counts in Lincoln County Custody
The local Lincoln County inmate population includes adults booked into the jail after arrest, people held before a first appearance or later court hearing, people serving local jail sentences, and people transported to and from Lincoln County District Court. The facility is approved as secure coed space, but official county sources reviewed did not publish a full demographic breakdown by age, race, sex, charge level, pretrial status, or sentenced status. The roster output indexed during research showed at least a sex grouping and fields for charge, disposition, and bail.
- Pretrial detainees: people held while a Lincoln County criminal or traffic case is pending.
- Local sentenced inmates: people serving jail terms rather than state prison sentences.
- Court transports: people moved between jail and court for hearings or orders.
- Juvenile limits: the 2021 DOC inspection noted a rural exception for delinquent juveniles up to 24 hours, excluding weekends and holidays, and zero juveniles held or processed in the reviewed federal fiscal year.
The distinction matters for search results. A jail roster entry is a custody record. It is not the same thing as a final court judgment. Once an executed felony sentence sends a person to prison, the Minnesota DOC record becomes the better source for custody status.
Laws for Lincoln County Jail Data
Minnesota public-data law controls how Lincoln County inmate population records are released. The jail roster can show public custody data, but not every detail inside a jail file is public. Medical data, confidential investigative material, security data, juvenile data, and information that may endanger a person can be withheld or limited. Court filings follow separate judicial access rules, so a booking charge on the roster should be checked against Minnesota Court Records Online when filed charges matter.
Key Statutes and Rules:
Minnesota Statutes 13.03 sets the general rule that government data are public unless another law classifies them otherwise.
Minnesota Statutes 13.82 governs law-enforcement data and makes adult booking photographs public unless a temporary active-investigation limit applies.
Minnesota Statutes 13.85 covers corrections and detention data, including privacy and security limits for jail records.
Minnesota Statutes 241.021 gives the DOC commissioner jail inspection and licensing authority and includes death and unusual-occurrence reporting duties.
Minnesota Rule Chapter 2911 sets local adult detention standards for safety, security, sanitation, records, staffing, food service, and health care.
Lincoln County State Prison Transfers
No Minnesota state prison was located in Lincoln County official sources. When a Lincoln County defendant receives an executed felony prison sentence, the person leaves the county jail system and enters Minnesota Department of Corrections custody. The MNDOC public viewer is the lookup tool for adults committed to the Commissioner of Corrections and still under DOC jurisdiction. Newly sentenced people may take several business days to appear in that system.
| Custody Type | Who It Covers | Where to Search |
|---|---|---|
| Lincoln County Jail | Current local bookings, pretrial custody, short local sentences | Lincoln County Sheriff roster |
| Minnesota DOC | Sentenced prison inmates and people under DOC supervision | MNDOC public viewer |
| Federal custody | Federal inmates from 1982 to present | BOP inmate locator |
| Immigration custody | People currently in ICE custody | ICE Online Detainee Locator System |
The MNDOC locator screenshot from the project capture shows the state search criteria page used after a county jail case becomes a prison custody record.
That state page should not be used for a new Lincoln County jail booking, because the county roster and sheriff phone line remain the local custody channels.
Search Lincoln County Jail Roster
The official Lincoln County Sheriff inmate roster is the starting point for current jail custody. Research found a public roster headed "New Inmate Roster LINCOLN COUNTY SHERIFF" with a run date/time, sex grouping, JailId, Photo, Name, Charges, Current Disposition, and Total Bail. A separate name-search form was not confirmed from accessible output, so the practical instruction is to open the roster, check the run time, and review the current list rather than assuming a search box exists.
- Open the Lincoln County Sheriff roster and read the run date/time before relying on the count.
- Review the current roster section and compare the name, JailId, charge text, disposition, and bail column.
- If the roster is blank, stale, unavailable, or does not show a recent arrest, call the Sheriff's Department at 507-694-1664 or 507-694-1325.
- For filed charges and hearings, search Minnesota Court Records Online.
- For a prison sentence, switch to the MNDOC public viewer. For federal or immigration custody, use BOP or ICE.
The public roster is useful for a first custody check, but the Lincoln County inmate population can shift between roster runs. A person may be in court, recently released, held in another county, moved to prison, or not yet visible online.
Lincoln County Roster Fields
The roster fields found in the research are listing-level fields. They do not prove that a separate inmate profile page exists, and they do not support claims about housing unit, height, weight, race, birth date, arresting agency, or court date. Use the fields as a current custody clue and then verify formal court events through MCRO or Court Administration.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Run Date/Time | Roster metadata | N/A | Shows when the roster was generated. |
| Sex grouping | Roster section | N/A | Indexed output showed a "Males" section. |
| JailId | Table column | N/A | Local jail identifier, exact format not verified. |
| Photo | Table column | N/A | Indicates a booking-photo column exists. |
| Name | Table column | N/A | Public name of the person in custody. |
| Charges | Table column | N/A | Booking or holding charge text, not always the final filed charge. |
| Current Disposition | Table column | N/A | Custody or charge status as listed by the jail roster. |
| Total Bail | Table column | N/A | Total bail shown when applicable. |
Past Lincoln County Inmate Records
Released inmate records may not stay on the public roster. Lincoln County did not publish a dedicated archive, daily booking PDF, or historical jail-search form in the official sources reviewed. For an older booking, use a Minnesota Data Practices Act request to the Sheriff's Department and identify the person, booking or arrest date, record type, and preferred delivery method. Ask for the booking record, roster entry, arrest data, or booking photo as public government data if the record is adult data and not restricted by law.
Past custody and past court records are not the same request. The sheriff is the local source for jail and law-enforcement records. Court Administration and MCRO are the source for court filings, hearing dates, charges filed by the prosecutor, and case outcomes. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension public search is conviction-history oriented, so it should not be treated as a complete arrest list or warrant database.
Booking to Lincoln County Court
After arrest, a person may be booked at the Lincoln County Law Enforcement Center, photographed, screened, classified, and listed on the roster when public and applicable. Jail charges are intake or holding charges. The prosecutor may later file a complaint with charges that match, change, reduce, add to, or replace the booking charges. For court records after a jail arrest, MCRO and Lincoln County Court Administration show the case record rather than the jail roster alone.
- Booking
- The jail intake event after arrest or court remand.
- Charge
- An alleged offense or holding basis. It can change after prosecutor review.
- Disposition
- The current status or outcome of a charge or case.
- Detainer
- A hold or request from another agency that may affect release.
- Personal recognizance
- Release based on a promise to appear and follow court conditions.
Lincoln County Detention Facility
Lincoln County's facility map has one local detention facility. The Lincoln County Jail is a county jail operated by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department, with approved secure coed capacity and local booking duties. No separate municipal jail, work-release annex, federal prison, ICE facility, or state prison was located in official county sources.
- Lincoln County Jail holds adult pretrial detainees, local arrestees, court transports, and people serving local jail terms.
The Lincoln County Sheriff's Department page is the official source for the Law Enforcement Center and jail description.
The screenshot reflects the county source that ties the sheriff's office, jail, communications center, and Law Enforcement Center into one public-safety building.
Lincoln County Inmate Population FAQ
How large is the Lincoln County inmate population? The latest sourced average daily population found in the research was one in the 2021 Minnesota DOC inspection snippet. The jail has 15 approved secure coed beds and 12 operational beds in DOC inspection materials. The live count should be read from the sheriff roster's run date and time.
Where is a current Lincoln County inmate search done? Current county jail custody starts with the official sheriff roster. If the roster is down, blank, or stale, call the Sheriff's Department. If the person has moved to state prison, search MNDOC instead.
Do Lincoln County jail records show mugshots? The roster output found during research includes a Photo column. Minnesota law generally treats adult booking photographs as public data, but law enforcement may withhold one temporarily if release would harm an active investigation.
Is a booking charge the same as a conviction? No. A booking charge is tied to jail intake or a hold. A conviction is a court outcome. MCRO, Court Administration, and the BCA conviction-history search are the right sources for court and conviction records.