The list shows everyone the jail holds at the time it was made. Steps:

1. Go to the In Custody list on any browser.
2. Read the date and time stamp at the top. That tells you how fresh the list is.
3. Use Ctrl+F on a laptop or desktop. Phone browsers have a search-in-page option too. Then enter the surname.
4. Look over the full record. It lists the photo, sex, age, Booking #, intake date, and the Minnesota statute for each charge.
5. Check the status line under each charge. Words like COURT/PENDING, WARRANT or DOC HOLD tell you why the person is held.
6. Jot down that Booking # so staff can pull up the right record quickly.

Questions about the list go to the Sheriff's Office at 320-269-2121.

A blank result often has a plain cause:

• Booking not done. Processing a new arrival takes time, and the list only changes when it is rebuilt.
• Ticketed instead. Many misdemeanor arrests end with a ticket and a court date, with no booking at all.
• Released at court. A judge may have set release terms at the first appearance.
• Arrested by city police. A city officer may still be working on the case before booking.
• Somewhere else. An arrest in another county usually means that county's jail. People can also be moved to state prison or federal custody.
• Name differences. Spelling varies on booking forms, so test a few versions of the first and last name.

Deputies answer the non-emergency line, 320-269-2121, day and night. If it is busy, try 320-269-2122.

The county has one jail, the county jail in Montevideo. It sits in the Law Enforcement Center, 629 N 11th Street, Montevideo, MN 56265, phone 320-269-2121. A 2025 state inspection approved 17 beds, shared by men and women. The beds serve several groups:

• Awaiting court. These people are marked COURT/PENDING on the list.
• Work release (Huber). A judge may let a sentenced person keep a regular job. They work their shift, then come back to the jail. The county charges $25 for each workday.
• Sentence to Service. Some people work on crews led by a state corrections worker, mostly in Chippewa, Yellow Medicine and Lac qui Parle counties. The work earns time off a sentence or takes the place of a fine.
• Holds for others. The jail also keeps people for another agency, on warrants, or for the state Department of Corrections.

If the arrest was over the county line, check the jail there. See our pages for Kandiyohi, Swift, Renville, Lac qui Parle and Yellow Medicine counties.

Yes. The Montevideo In Custody list pairs every name with a mugshot (booking photo).

A booking photo counts as public data in Minnesota (Minn. Stat. 13.82, subd. 26). The agency can delay sharing it for a time when release would damage an active investigation. Subdivision 2 makes the offense, custody status and release date public as well. To request a copy, go to whichever agency arrested the person. At the Sheriff's Office, phone 320-269-2121 and ask how to request one.

• Ask ICE for an immigration booking photo on its records request page.
• Most federal agencies withhold booking photos. The U.S. Marshals Service may share one, as with a fugitive it is trying to find.

Yes. Minnesota VINE, a service of the Department of Public Safety, reports a person's custody status and the facility holding them. It can also send an alert after a release or a transfer from a county jail.

• Register on VINELink or call 877-664-8463. Alerts start only after you sign up.
• State prisoners are tracked by a separate DOC notice system named Minnesota Haven, not VINE.

You can also refresh the jail list each day, or ask the Sheriff's Office at 320-269-2121.

Minnesota's Rule 4.02 sets a 36-hour clock after a warrantless arrest. A judge must see the person before it runs out, and the count skips the arrest date, Sundays and legal holidays. If a misdemeanor suspect waits longer, they must be let go with a citation. A judge also has 48 hours, counting every day, to find probable cause.

The first hearing is in District Court in Montevideo. Here is what to expect:

• Release on a promise to come back is the starting point. The judge adds only the conditions that public safety or a return to court truly call for.
• Rule 6.02 also requires a money bail figure without conditions. That is why many orders list two sums: a smaller one tied to conditions and a bigger one with none.
• Cash bail posted with court administration is the defendant's money, whoever supplied it. The court may apply it to fines or restitution. Whatever is left is refunded to the defendant, unless they signed form CRM602 to send it to someone else.
• A licensed bail bond agent may post bond for a fee set at the insurer's filed rate, never under $100. That fee is not refunded.
• Domestic assault and stalking cases, and broken protection or no-contact orders, rule out a street citation. A judge must decide.

Ask court administration at 320-269-7774, or the jail at 320-269-2121, where to pay and what kinds of payment they take. Payment steps for this county are on our bail page, and the statewide picture is on our Minnesota bail laws page.

Each entry on the jail list names every charge with its statute number. Once the case is filed, you can search it for free on Minnesota Court Records Online, often called MCRO. Certain juvenile files are hidden from it.

For help reading a case, phone court administration at 320-269-7774. The County Attorney's Office, 629 North 11th Street, Montevideo, MN 56265, 320-269-7138, decides felony charges. Crime victims can reach its Victim / Witness Program at the same number.

The state appoints a public defender when a person cannot afford a lawyer. That help is available on felony and gross misdemeanor charges, and on misdemeanors that carry possible jail. The court reviews a financial statement to decide. Under Minn. Stat. 611.17, people who already get means-tested benefits are presumed to qualify.

Raise the request at the first appearance. The Eighth District Public Defender handles these cases from its Willmar office, 316 Becker Avenue SW, Suite 301, Willmar, MN 56201, 320-231-6064. If the family can afford it, a private attorney is another choice.

Visiting hours are Tuesdays and Fridays, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. and again from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Call 320-269-2121 before your first trip. Ask if the visit happens in person or on a screen, which ID is accepted and whether a time slot must be booked. Ask too what you may carry inside. Our visiting tips explain how most jail visits go.

Funds on the person's books usually pay for toiletries, treats and call time. Ring the jail at 320-269-2121 to hear the deposit options, fees and limits. Keep the full name and Booking # handy.

Our money guide covers common ways to deposit. For what the jail store sells, see our commissary guide. Don't mail cash, and be wary of anyone who asks you to wire money or pay with gift cards.

Phone and messaging services differ from jail to jail. Dial 320-269-2121 to learn which company carries the calls, what they cost, and whether tablets or video chats are used here.

Assume someone may be listening. Details about the charges belong in talks with the defense lawyer only. See our page on jail calls and our page on messages and texts.

The jail's street address is 629 N 11th Street, Montevideo, MN 56265. Before you write, call 320-269-2121 to confirm how to address the envelope and what is allowed, such as photos, books or cards.

Most jails want the person's full legal name and their Booking # on the envelope, plus your return address. Common jail mail rules are on our mail page.

Wallets, keys and clothes collected during booking are usually stored by the jail and given back at release. To collect something sooner, call 320-269-2121 first. Staff will explain whether the person must OK the pickup in writing and which ID they accept.

The Sheriff's office desk is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at 629 N 11th Street, Suite 14, Montevideo, MN 56265.

Tell the jail about any sickness, wound or regular prescription right away by calling 320-269-2121. List each drug, the dose and the prescribing doctor's number, and request that jail medical staff get the details.

From inside, the person can ask jail staff for care. Mention any mental health worry plainly. Dial 911 in any medical emergency.

Chippewa deputies field warrant questions at 320-269-2121.

• Read the Sheriff's Active Warrant Listing.
• People wanted for violating supervised release appear on the state DOC's Wanted Fugitives page.
• MCRO shows court cases, not warrants, but an open case can hint at one.

A lawyer can help clear a warrant, so call one before anything else. With that advice in hand, call the clerks of the court that signed the warrant, or surrender at the Montevideo jail. The District Court is at 629 North 11th Street, Montevideo, MN 56265. Court administration answers at 320-269-7774.

Montevideo's District Court, in Minnesota's Eighth Judicial District, hears every criminal case from the county. It sits at 629 North 11th Street, Montevideo, MN 56265, and is open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Call court administration at 320-269-7774 for the date, time and courtroom.

• The free MCRO hearing search lists upcoming dates by name.
• Rule 11.01 usually puts the omnibus hearing on the calendar within 42 days of the first appearance.
• Demand a speedy trial, and the court has 60 days to start it (Rule 11.09).
• Not showing up for a felony hearing can bring a new charge. It is dropped when the person turns themselves in voluntarily inside 48 hours (Minn. Stat. 609.49).

Each hearing type in this county is explained in our court guide.

A federal charge lands in the United States District Court for Minnesota, the state's only federal trial court. The court lists this county with its Minneapolis jury division. The building there is the Diana E. Murphy U.S. Courthouse, 300 South Fourth Street, Minneapolis, MN 55415. The clerk's office answers at 612-664-5000.

1. Jail-or-release before a federal trial gets settled in court, at what 18 U.S.C. 3142 calls a detention hearing.
2. Before trial, the U.S. Marshals Service has custody and often rents a bed in a county jail. Ask the Marshals which one: 300 South 4th Street, Suite 402, Minneapolis, MN 55415, 612-664-5900.
3. After sentencing, search the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

Step by step:

1. Immigration agents may send the Montevideo jail a Form I-247A, called a detainer.
2. With it, ICE seeks a hold of up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Minnesota's Attorney General weighed in with an opinion dated February 6, 2025. Under that reading of state law, a jail may not extend custody solely for an ICE detainer after release is due.
4. Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator. The A-number search is the most exact. Lacking one, type the person's name and pick their native country.
5. Questions can go to ICE's ERO St. Paul Field Office, 1 Federal Drive, Suite 1601, Fort Snelling, MN 55111, 612-843-8600.

Prison terms for felonies are run by the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC). The person waits in the Montevideo jail until the Sheriff transports them to DOC intake. There, staff assess them and pick a facility.

• Check the DOC Offender Locator under the person's name. A brand-new transfer can take a few business days to be listed.
• JE's Minnesota state prisons guide breaks down visits and mail for every Minnesota prison.
• Most people serve the final third of their term on supervised release in the community.

Minnesota law (Minn. Stat. 260B.007) counts anyone not yet 18 as a child. The case stays out of adult criminal court and goes to juvenile court instead. Usually the youth is sent home with a parent. A youth who is a danger, or may skip court, can be kept.

• Under a rural exception, the Montevideo jail may hold a youth accused of a crime for a 24-hour maximum, with weekend days and holidays left out.
• Past 36 hours of secure detention, a petition and a judge's ruling are required. That count also leaves out weekends and holidays.
• Serious cases at ages 14 to 17 can be certified for adult court or labeled extended jurisdiction juvenile (EJJ) cases.

The Sheriff's Office, 320-269-2121, knows where a youth from the county is being held. Probation staff at 6W Community Corrections answer at 320-269-6513.

The Minnesota State Demographic Center counts about 12,406 residents here (2025 estimate). The arrest most likely came from one of these:

• Sheriff's Office, Law Enforcement Center, 629 N 11th Street, Suite 14, Montevideo, MN 56265, 320-269-2121 or 320-269-2122. Deputies patrol the whole county and answer around the clock.
• City police. If a city officer made the arrest, ask the Sheriff's deputies which department did the booking.
• Minnesota State Patrol headquarters, 651-201-7100, 445 Minnesota Street, St. Paul, MN 55101 (Suite 130). Its contact page lets you choose a county and see the district office.

Dial 911 for any emergency.