Clay County’s adult arrests for felonies, gross misdemeanors and misdemeanors are booked here:
919 8th Avenue N.
Moorhead, MN 56561
The sheriff’s office runs the jail. Deputies book their own arrests, and police from cities in the county that have no lockup of their own bring people here too. Detention staff photograph and fingerprint each arrestee, take an inventory of property, search for warrants and complete a medical screening before the West Central Regional Juvenile Center housing is assigned.
The Minnesota State Patrol, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and other state agencies also book arrests at this facility. Some Minnesota jails also hold prisoners for federal agencies such as the U.S. Marshals under contract.
The public roster is pulled from the sheriff’s official booking list (opens in a new tab) or an official statewide jail listing. Under Minnesota’s data practices law, booking photos are generally public, so a roster entry may show a mugshot along with each charge and the arresting agency. If a record seems incomplete, call the West Central Regional Juvenile Center at 218-299-5150.
Minnesota’s criminal rules require that a person arrested without a warrant get a judicial probable cause determination within 48 hours, and that anyone held be brought before a judge without unnecessary delay, no later than 36 hours after arrest, not counting the day of arrest, Sundays or legal holidays. Because weekends are excluded, someone arrested late in the week may not see a judge until Monday.
At the first appearance, the Clay County judge may release the person on their own recognizance or set conditions. When bail is set, Minnesota judges typically name two amounts: a lower one that comes with release conditions and a higher one without conditions. Bail can be paid in cash or through a commercial bail bond agent. See our Bail page for posting instructions.
Minnesota has no statewide sanctuary statute, but a February 2025 opinion from the state Attorney General concluded that Minnesota law does not allow local jails to keep people in custody on an ICE detainer alone, and the state sheriffs’ association has said detainers are civil requests sheriffs cannot honor by themselves. Policies still vary by county; Hennepin County, for example, requires a judicial warrant to hold anyone past release for immigration authorities. Use the ICE Detainee Locator to find someone in federal immigration custody.
Processing at the West Central Regional Juvenile Center, from arrival until the person is housed or ready to leave, commonly takes a few hours and can stretch to a day when many arrests come in together.
Phone the West Central Regional Juvenile Center at 218-299-5150; jail staff can tell you whether the person is in custody.
You may reach a recorded menu or a detention deputy. Be ready to give the person’s date of birth so staff can confirm identity.
A very recent arrest might not appear for several hours while booking is underway.
If you prefer, search the West Central Regional Juvenile Center Booking Roster online.
Following an arrest in Clay County, the person is driven to the county jail, sometimes after a brief stop at a city police station.
The booking itself has several parts. Attorneys routinely urge arrestees not to talk about the case, because anything said to officers or other inmates, or over the jail phone, can be recorded and used in court.
Staff take a booking photo and fingerprints, collect personal history and check for warrants in Clay County, elsewhere in Minnesota and across the country. Minnesota requires a DNA sample from people convicted of a felony and certain other offenses.
In a DWI arrest, refusing a breath test is a separate crime in Minnesota, in addition to license revocation. Blood or urine tests, by contrast, require a search warrant unless the person consents.
Arrestees are searched before entering the jail, which may include a metal detector or body scanner and, when jail policy allows, a strip search.
Booking staff ask about physical and mental health, medications, allergies, recent alcohol or drug use, suicidal thinking, gang associations, tattoos and possible conflicts with other inmates. This screening drives the classification decision and any medical follow-up.
The jail bags and records everything the person has with them and keeps it until release, unless the person authorizes a friend or relative to pick some of it up.
That covers clothing, cash, wallets, handbags, phones, keys, jewelry, body piercings, watches and, in some cases, eyeglasses. Shoes may be kept only after the laces are removed.
Minnesota law requires officers to let a person in custody contact and consult a lawyer on request. Arrestees can also usually phone family or friends to report the arrest and work on bond or bail.
Anyone held until their first appearance is issued a jail uniform, shoes, bedding, a towel and hygiene items.
A shower, and sometimes a treatment for lice or scabies, typically comes before the move to a housing unit.
Booking may wrap up within an hour or take a day or more. How crowded intake is, staffing on that shift and the person’s cooperation decide most of it.
Someone who is highly intoxicated or violent may sit in a holding cell for hours before staff finish the process.