Lake of the Woods County Jail Search

Lake of the Woods Jail Overview

Lake of the Woods County Jail is the county's only adult detention facility identified in the official facility map and source inventory. It is operated by the Lake of the Woods County Sheriff's Office from the Law Enforcement Center in Baudette. The jail serves adult arrestees, people held on Lake of the Woods County warrants or commitments, short-term detainees, and sheriff-approved Huber or work-release participants. It is not a state prison, federal prison, ICE detention center, or juvenile facility.

The facility is documented by Minnesota Department of Corrections inspection reports as a 72-hour holding facility. That status matters for inmate lookup because a person arrested in Lake of the Woods County may be held briefly, released after court action or bail, transferred for a custody need, or later committed to the Minnesota Department of Corrections after sentencing. Juveniles are not approved for holding at Lake of the Woods County Jail. Inspection comments route juveniles needing detention to the Northwestern Minnesota Juvenile Center in Bemidji.

The county's official detention-center source is available through the Lake of the Woods County Detention Center and Jail page. That page is the best local source for visitation, Reliance communication services, work release, bail-posting rules, and warrant-verification contacts.

The county jail source shows the same custody topics that matter for a Lake of the Woods County Jail search.

The image reinforces why jail lookup here is a channel-based task, since the official page points users to phone, visitation, communications, bail, warrants, and notification tools rather than a public roster.

Lake of the Woods Jail Capacity

The strongest capacity source for Lake of the Woods County Jail is the 2025 Minnesota DOC inspection report. It lists secure coed approved capacity of 5 beds, an 80 percent operating-capacity calculation, and 4.00 operational beds. The same report identifies the facility type as 72 Hour Holding and states that the authority to operate runs from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. Jail Administrator Tami Maurer and Sheriff Gary Fish appear as report recipients in the inspection material.

Population data also show how small this custody setting is. The FY2025 MNDOC Performance Report listed Lake of the Woods County as a Class I facility with an average daily population of 1.17, approved capacity of 5, and 80 percent operating capacity. Those figures fit the local facility map. Lake of the Woods County Jail is best understood as a very small short-term holding facility rather than a large jail with a long online population list.

Lake of the Woods Inmate Lookup

No official online Lake of the Woods County Jail roster was located in the research sources. That means a Lake of the Woods County Jail inmate lookup should not begin with an assumed name-search roster. Start with the jail phone line at 218-634-1143 when the question is current custody, release timing, warrant custody, visitation approval, or whether a person is held in the local jail. If the person is not there, the next step depends on the custody type.

1. Call Lake of the Woods County Jail at 218-634-1143 for current local custody, approved visits, warrant holds, and short-term detention questions.
2. Use Minnesota VINE for custody notification. The county jail page lists VINE by phone at 1-877-664-8463 and TTY at 1-866-847-1298.
3. Use the Sheriff's Records Division for public booking, arrest, incident, or jail record requests when no public roster entry is available.
4. Search Minnesota Court Records Online for public court charges, hearings, and case events after arrest.
5. Use the MNDOC public offender locator for adults committed to the Commissioner of Corrections after sentencing.
6. Use the Federal BOP locator for federal sentenced inmates and the ICE Online Detainee Locator System for immigration custody.

Lake of the Woods Jail Contact

Direct contact is especially important at Lake of the Woods County Jail because the research did not locate an official county inmate roster, mugshot gallery, or live inmate profile page. The jail and Sheriff's Office share the Law Enforcement Center contact point. Records requests use the Sheriff's Records Division mailing address and email when a requester needs public data instead of a quick custody check.

Lake of the Woods Visitation

Lake of the Woods County Jail visits must be approved and scheduled in advance through Reliance Telephone or by calling the jail. Social visits are non-contact and subject to recording. Visits may be limited to 20 minutes if other people are waiting. Visitors must provide a government-issued photo ID, name, and relationship to the inmate, and may be asked for information needed for a background check. Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Attorney and clergy visits are treated differently from social visits. The county jail page says clergy and attorneys may visit at any reasonable hour and are not audio recorded. A person planning a Lake of the Woods County Jail visit should confirm approval before travel, because the facility is small and custody status can change quickly.

Lake of the Woods Mail and Money

The county source documents Reliance Telephone for inmate phone calls, texting, video calling, and visitation services. At admission, inmates receive a communication device and one free calling card to contact family or friends. The device can place collect calls or wallet-funded calls, and it receives incoming calls and text messages through a unique number assigned to the inmate. Funds can be added to the communication wallet through Reliance.

County-specific inmate mail address rules and commissary ordering limits were not located in the official jail page. Do not borrow mail rules from another Minnesota county. Call Lake of the Woods County Jail before sending mail, books, photos, or money for commissary, because returned mail and rejected deposits waste time. Bail is separate from commissary or communication funds. Local bail posting requires the exact bail amount when a judge has set bail.

Lake of the Woods Work Release

Lake of the Woods County Jail allows sheriff-approved Huber or work release for eligible sentenced individuals. The program is not a separate facility. It is a local jail program that lets approved participants maintain current employment while serving a jail sentence. Approval is not automatic. The sheriff must approve participation, jail staff verify employment, and the participant must provide supervisor contact information and a current work schedule on employer letterhead showing at least a seven-day schedule.

Work-release participants may work only regular preapproved hours and may not exceed 12 hours per day. They must provide a baseline breath or urine sample before the first work assignment. Jail staff may conduct more tests at any time, and random testing may occur. The research states that participants are financially responsible for their own medical expenses while in custody.

Lake of the Woods Booking

Lake of the Woods County does not publish a separate local booking manual, so the best custody-process source is the 2025 Minnesota DOC inspection report applying Minnesota Rule 2911 admissions standards. Intake can begin after an arrest, warrant pickup, court commitment, or report-to-jail order. Staff verify the legal paperwork authorizing detention, including the date of admission, detention duration, and charges when detention is tied to a criminal offense. Available emergency medical information must be obtained and documented within two hours of admission.

Admission steps include search of the inmate and possessions, property inventory and storage, initial medical screening, initial mental-health screening, shower or hair cleansing, issue of bedding, clothing, and hygiene items when needed, and access to phone calls before housing assignment. Identification steps include photographing, fingerprinting, noting scars or tattoos, an identifying-data interview, initial classification, housing assignment, and creation of a booking number. Because Lake of the Woods County Jail is a small holding facility, transfers or other custody arrangements may occur when local holding is not appropriate.

Lake of the Woods Inspection Context

The 2025 Minnesota DOC inspection found substantial compliance at Lake of the Woods County Jail, but it also documented noncompliant items. Admissions records showed concerns about mental-health referrals when screening indicated that a referral should be made, and orientation was not always completed for newly admitted inmates before general population housing. The report also noted daily inspection documentation and other rule items. These are inspection findings, not court findings or proof of a claim by any inmate.

The 2024 inspection likewise listed substantial compliance while noting physical plant concerns, including plumbing, housing-area paint and floor repair, housekeeping, and a statement that cell one was not conducive to house inmates until repairs and inspector approval. The 2024 Health and Safety in Correctional Facilities legislative report captured Lake of the Woods values of 0 uses of force, 2 medical transports, and 0 restrictive housing entries. Earlier inspection material also noted well-being check and training-related corrective actions.