Find Recent Bookings in Sherburne County

Sherburne County recent bookings and inmate records are managed by the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office in Elk River. The county operates one of the largest jail facilities in Minnesota, with a 732-bed capacity that serves both local inmates and a large population of federal detainees. If you are searching for someone held at the Sherburne County Jail, the right tool depends on whether they are a county or state detainee or a federal detainee held under contract. This page explains both search paths and covers how the facility works, who runs it, and where to find additional records.

Sherburne County Inmate Search

The Sherburne County Sheriff's Office provides an inmate search tool at co.sherburne.mn.us/903/Inmate-Search. This covers people held on county charges, state court holds, and similar local custody situations. You can search by name to check whether someone is currently in Sherburne County custody.

Under Minn. Stat. § 13.82, booking data is public in Minnesota. That law covers the arrest date, the charge, the agency making the arrest, and other identifying information tied to the booking. The county inmate search reflects this public data. If you want to look up the underlying court case for a booking, mncourts.gov is the place to go for docket information.

The inmate search page is part of the county's public safety section and reflects live custody data.

Note: The Sherburne County Jail's large capacity means bed availability varies significantly depending on the current federal detainee population, which changes daily.

Federal Detainees at Sherburne County Jail

On any given day, the Sherburne County Jail houses over 500 federal detainees. This is a defining feature of this facility. Most county jails do not take federal contract detainees at this scale. Sherburne County has agreements with several federal agencies including ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), the U.S. Marshal, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The revenue from housing these federal detainees helps fund jail operations.

Federal detainees held by ICE are not always searchable through the county inmate search system. To look up someone held in ICE custody at the Sherburne County Jail, you need to use the ICE Online Detainee Locator at locator.ice.gov. You can search by name and country of birth. ICE also has a local field office phone number of 952-853-2550 if you need to speak with someone directly. This is a separate system from the county tool, and it only covers people in ICE custody.

People held by the U.S. Marshal can sometimes be located through the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator. If someone is in custody pending federal court proceedings and being held at Sherburne County under a U.S. Marshal contract, the county inmate search may or may not reflect that. When in doubt, call the jail directly at 763-765-3800 to ask. The jail administrator is Brian Frank and can be reached at brian.frank@co.sherburne.mn.us for administrative matters.

The distinction matters because the two systems, county and federal, run separately. A person can be physically present at the same building in Elk River but not appear in one of the two databases. Knowing which agency has custody of the person determines which search tool to use.

Sherburne County Booking Records and Jail Operations

The Sherburne County Jail is at 13880 Business Center Drive NW in Elk River, MN 55330. The jail phone is 763-765-3800. The sheriff's main office number is 763-765-3500. Fax is 763-441-7303. The facility is a regional jail, meaning it serves more than just Sherburne County's local law enforcement needs. Its size and federal contracts make it one of the more significant detention facilities in the upper Midwest.

A few facility-specific policies are worth knowing if you are in contact with someone held there. Eyeglasses are not accepted at the facility. If someone needs reading glasses, those are available through the commissary or can be provided if medically necessary. An optometrist is accessible through sick call for other vision needs. The facility also has auxiliary aids available for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Under Minn. Stat. § 641.08, county jails must meet state standards for inmate housing and care. The Sherburne County facility's size and its acceptance of federal contracts means it operates under both state and federal oversight. Under Minn. Stat. § 641.05, the county sheriff is responsible for managing the jail. For more on county jail requirements, Minn. Stat. § 641.12 covers related operational standards.

The sheriff's page also covers the jail division, patrol, and other county law enforcement services.

Additional Resources for Sherburne County Records

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension offers a statewide criminal history search. Each search costs $8 and covers conviction data from across the state. You can access it at cdechportal.dps.mn.gov. More information about the BCA and its services is at dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca. This tool is useful if you need a broader record than what the county booking search shows.

For inmates sentenced to state prison (more than one year), the Minnesota Department of Corrections runs an offender locator at coms.doc.state.mn.us/PublicViewer. This covers people in DOC facilities, not county jails. If someone received a long sentence and you cannot find them in the county system, they may have been transferred to a DOC facility. VINELink at vinelink.com provides custody status notifications and lets you sign up for alerts when a person's status changes. This service covers both county jails and state facilities in Minnesota.

Under Minn. Stat. § 13.03, you can submit a formal public data request to the Sheriff's Office for records not available through the online search. The Predatory Offender Registry, separate from the jail roster, is searchable at por.doc.state.mn.us. For general legal help, LawHelpMN at lawhelpmn.org has guides on criminal records and how Minnesota's public data laws work. The Minnesota State Bar Association can match you with a local lawyer at mnbar.org.

Record expungement petitions filed under Minn. Stat. § 609A can result in sealed records. If a booking or arrest record has been expunged by court order, it may no longer appear in public search results. The Minn. Stat. § 138.17 governs how long government records must be retained, which affects how far back the county search goes.

Cities in Sherburne County

Sherburne County's largest city is Elk River, which serves as the county seat. The county also includes Big Lake, Becker, and Zimmerman. No city in Sherburne County meets the population threshold for its own page on this site.

Parts of St. Cloud extend into Sherburne County. Bookings tied to St. Cloud addresses in Sherburne County run through the Sherburne County jail system, not the Stearns County system. Check the Stearns County page if you are not sure which county applies.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Sherburne County. St. Cloud spans Stearns, Benton, and Sherburne, so arrests in that area may appear in any of the three systems depending on where they occurred.