Find Goodhue County Booking Records
Goodhue County recent bookings are logged by the Sheriff's Office in Red Wing, a river town in southeast Minnesota along the Mississippi. The booking record is created at intake and captures the person's name, charges, and processing date. Minnesota law makes most of this data public. This page covers how to search for Goodhue County booking records, what you can expect to find, the rules that govern how long records are kept, and what legal steps are available for people who want to address a past arrest on their record.
Goodhue County Jail Overview
Goodhue County Jail Bookings and Roster
Goodhue County lies southeast of the Twin Cities metro along the Mississippi River. The Sheriff's Office handles jail bookings for the entire county, taking in arrests made by county deputies as well as those brought by police from Red Wing and smaller municipalities like Cannon Falls and Zumbrota. Each booking creates a record in the county system. The jail is located on West 6th Street in Red Wing and serves as the county's only detention facility. Because Goodhue is relatively close to the metro area, it sees a mix of case types including drug, DWI, and property crimes.
Minnesota Statute 13.82 requires law enforcement agencies to treat booking and arrest data as public government data. This means the Goodhue County Sheriff cannot withhold the core booking fields from members of the public. Name, charges, booking date and time, arresting agency, and bail status are all accessible. The Goodhue County website lists Sheriff's Office contact information for those who want to request records. For a county of this size, calling the office directly is typically faster than waiting on a formal written request, especially for current custody information.
Goodhue County sits in a region where multiple court districts meet. Its cases are handled by the First Judicial District, which also covers several adjacent counties. This is worth knowing if you are cross-referencing a booking record with court filings, since the right district court matters for case lookups.
What Goodhue County Booking Data Contains
A Goodhue County booking record typically shows the person's full name, the date and time they were processed into the jail, the charges written by the arresting officer, which agency made the arrest, any bail or bond amount set at intake or at the first court appearance, and current custody status. If the person has been released, the record may show a release date. Case or arrest numbers are usually included as well, which makes it easier to find linked court filings after the fact.
Home address, date of birth, and physical description are collected during booking but are not part of the public data release under the Government Data Practices Act. Those fields are classified as private data. What is public is the information listed above, which is enough to confirm a person's custody status and understand the basic nature of the charges they faced at intake. For a more complete picture after charges are formally filed in court, the Minnesota Courts public access portal covers the First Judicial District and is searchable at no cost. You can check case status, hearing dates, and how a case is progressing from there.
Juvenile records are not part of the public booking data. Sealed or expunged records are also withheld. These rules apply across all Minnesota counties without exception.
Goodhue County Sheriff's Office
The Goodhue County Sheriff's Office on West 6th Street in Red Wing handles all county jail operations, including intake, booking, and inmate management. Deputies patrol the county and work alongside local police departments in cities throughout the area. If you need to check on someone in custody, confirm charges from a recent booking, or ask about jail procedures, the Sheriff's Office is your contact. The county website has additional department listings and general public services information.
| Office | Goodhue County Sheriff's Office |
|---|---|
| Address | 454 W. 6th St. Red Wing, MN 55066 |
| Phone | 651-385-3155 |
| County Website | co.goodhue.mn.us |
Note: The Goodhue County Sheriff's Office does not call individuals to demand payment for bail or outstanding fines. Any such call is a scam. Report it to local police.
How to Access Goodhue County Booking Records
The fastest way to check on a Goodhue County booking is to call the Sheriff's Office at 651-385-3155. Staff can confirm custody status, provide the charges on file, and note any scheduled court date. For broader records that go beyond current or recent bookings, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension runs a statewide criminal history search. That system costs a fee and requires both a name and a date of birth. It covers records from across all 87 Minnesota counties and goes back further than a typical jail roster. The BCA is part of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
If you are a victim or family member who needs to track someone's release from the Goodhue County jail, VINELink is the tool to use. This free statewide service lets you register your contact information and link it to an inmate's record. When that person's custody status changes, you get an alert by phone, text, or email. VINELink is available across all Minnesota counties and works for both jail and state prison facilities. Setup takes a few minutes and no special account or authorization is required. It removes the need to call the jail daily when tracking someone's release date.
Court case records for Goodhue County are accessible through the Minnesota Courts portal. The First Judicial District covers this county. Once charges are filed in court, case details, hearing schedules, and dispositions are all searchable online. The jail booking system and the court records system do not automatically sync, so using both gives you a fuller picture.
State Resources for Goodhue County Records
When a Goodhue County arrest leads to a conviction and a state prison sentence, the case moves from the local jail system to the Minnesota Department of Corrections. The DOC offender search is the right tool for tracking someone who is in state custody following a conviction. It shows current facility, release dates, and supervised release status. If a person is no longer in the county jail but you cannot find them locally, the DOC viewer is a logical next step.
The Minnesota State Records site offers a broader aggregated search across multiple public data sources. It can help narrow down which agency or system holds the record you need. For free legal guidance on data access rights, expungement, and related topics, LawHelpMN provides plain-language resources for people who want to understand their options without paying for an attorney.
Retention, Fees, and Expungement in Goodhue County
Goodhue County maintains booking records under the retention schedule established by Minnesota Statute 138.17. That statute sets the rules for how long government agencies must keep records before they can be disposed of or archived. Law enforcement booking records fall under this framework and are kept for a defined period that extends well beyond the short window available on a public roster. The records stay in the county's system even after a case ends, whether by conviction, dismissal, or acquittal.
A booking fee is charged at intake under Minnesota Statute 641.12. This fee covers the administrative cost of processing someone into the jail. It applies at the time of booking and does not get refunded if charges are later dropped or if the person is not convicted. The statute authorizes county jails across Minnesota to collect this fee, and it is standard practice statewide. The fee is not a fine and is not tied to the outcome of the case.
People who want to seal a Goodhue County arrest record can pursue expungement under Minnesota Statute 609A. A successful expungement seals the court file from public view and, depending on the circumstances, can also seal the law enforcement record. Eligibility is not automatic. The charge level, case outcome, and time since the arrest all factor in. LawHelpMN provides step-by-step guidance on evaluating eligibility and filing an expungement petition, including self-help forms for people who want to handle the process without an attorney.
The VINELink statewide notification system works with Goodhue County jail records, letting victims and family members register for real-time alerts when an inmate's custody status changes.
State tools like VINELink and the BCA criminal history system complement local booking records from the Goodhue County Sheriff's Office, covering the full span of a case from arrest through any state corrections involvement.
Nearby Counties
Goodhue County is in southeast Minnesota near the Twin Cities metro. Several counties border it, each with their own Sheriff's Office and booking records. Check the right county when an arrest happened near a county line.