Red Lake County Released Inmates

Red Lake County released inmates can be tracked through the Red Lake County Sheriff's Office and through the Tri-County Community Corrections system, a regional partnership that handles detention for Red Lake, Polk, and Norman counties. Because Red Lake is one of Minnesota's smallest counties by population, local jail operations rely heavily on this shared regional model, and knowing which tool to use can save you time when looking up someone who was held or released in the area.

Red Lake County Sheriff's Office

The Red Lake County Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency in the county. It handles patrol, arrest, and booking for criminal matters within Red Lake County. The office is located at 124 S. Main St., Red Lake Falls, MN 56750. You can reach them by phone at (218) 253-2991 or by fax at (218) 253-2992. For emergencies, call 911.

The Sheriff's Office manages the Red Lake County Jail, which handles initial detention and booking. For individuals who need to be held beyond a short period, the county uses the Tri-County Community Corrections network described below. If you need to confirm whether someone is currently in local custody or was recently released, calling the Sheriff's Office directly is a good first step. Staff can tell you whether a person is still in the local jail or has been transferred to the regional facility.

Note: The Sheriff's Office website at co.red-lake.mn.us has had intermittent SSL issues. If the site does not load, call the office directly or use the statewide tools listed further down this page.

Tri-County Community Corrections

Red Lake County is part of Tri-County Community Corrections, a regional correctional system formed in 1976 under a Joint Powers Agreement between Red Lake, Polk, and Norman counties. This partnership was created to share the cost and administration of detention and probation services across three lightly populated northwest Minnesota counties. The main office for Tri-County Community Corrections is at the Polk County Justice Center in Crookston. A satellite probation office is in Red Lake Falls to serve Red Lake County residents directly.

The Northwest Regional Corrections Center in Crookston is where most inmates from these three counties are held for longer stays. If you are searching for someone arrested in Red Lake County and they are not in the local jail, they may be housed at this regional facility. An inmate roster for Tri-County Community Corrections is available online and shows individuals held within the regional system. You can also call the Polk County Justice Center in Crookston to get information about someone transferred from Red Lake County.

This regional model is common in rural Minnesota. Smaller counties often do not have the budget or volume to run a full-time, large-scale detention facility on their own. The 1976 joint agreement has kept correctional costs manageable while still providing proper detention for all three counties. The system has evolved over the decades and now includes pre-trial supervision services that began in May 2022 with grant funding.

MN DOC Offender Locator

The Minnesota Department of Corrections runs a public offender search tool that covers individuals serving state sentences. This is separate from the county jail roster. If someone was convicted of a felony and sent to a state prison, they will show up in the DOC Offender Locator rather than on a county roster. The tool also shows when an offender was released from state custody and what supervision conditions apply after release.

The MN DOC Public Viewer is free to use at coms.doc.state.mn.us/PublicViewer/. You can search by name or offender ID. The results include current facility or supervision status, release dates, and offense information. For Red Lake County residents who completed a state sentence and are back in the community, this tool is more relevant than the county jail roster.

Keep in mind that county jails and state prisons are separate systems. A person held at the Red Lake County Jail or the Northwest Regional Corrections Center in Crookston is serving local time, not a state sentence. The DOC tool only covers people in the state system. Use the county-level tools for shorter local sentences and pretrial detention.

VINE Victim Notification

VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday) is a free service that lets crime victims and concerned individuals register for automated alerts when an inmate is released or transferred. The service covers both county jails and state facilities in Minnesota. If someone you know is in custody in Red Lake County or the regional Tri-County facility, you can register through VINE to get a call or text the moment their status changes.

You can sign up at vinelink.com or call the VINE hotline at 877-664-8463. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Registration is free and does not require you to explain why you need the notification. VINE is widely used in Minnesota by domestic violence advocates, victims' attorneys, and family members who want to know the moment an inmate leaves custody.

Minnesota Law and Public Inmate Data

Minnesota law sets the rules for what jail information is public. Minnesota Statute 13.82 requires law enforcement agencies to release basic booking data to anyone who asks. This includes the name, physical description, time of booking, and charges for people in custody. It is a broad public access requirement, and it applies to Red Lake County just as it does to every other county in the state.

Minnesota Statute 13.85 sets limits on corrections data. Medical records, mental health information, and data about juveniles are not public. Certain investigative data may also be withheld. When you pull up an inmate record through the Sheriff's Office or through VINE, the data you see is what the law allows to be released. Anything beyond that requires a formal data request under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act.

For those on supervised release, Minnesota Statute 243.166 and Minnesota Statute 244.052 govern registration and community notification for predatory offenders. The MN Predatory Offender Registry is a separate searchable database maintained by the DOC.

Court Records in Red Lake County

Criminal charges and case outcomes in Red Lake County are filed through the Minnesota court system. Red Lake County is in the Ninth Judicial District. Court records are available through the Minnesota Court Records Online (MCRO) portal at publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us. You can search by name or case number to find charges, hearing dates, and dispositions.

Court records are a useful complement to jail records. A jail roster tells you who is currently in custody. Court records tell you what charges were filed, what the outcome was, and whether someone was convicted or acquitted. If you are doing a background check or trying to understand the full picture of someone's criminal history in Red Lake County, checking both the jail records and the court records gives you the most complete view available through public channels.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) also maintains statewide criminal history records. The BCA website explains how to request a criminal history record and what the process involves. BCA records cover arrests and convictions statewide, not just one county.

Cities in Red Lake County

Red Lake County has no cities over 100,000 in population. Red Lake Falls is the county seat. No city pages are available for this county.

Nearby Counties

These counties are near Red Lake County. Each has its own released inmate records.