Yellow Medicine County Jail

Check Yellow Medicine County Inmate Search with the full name. If it shows nothing, call the Sheriff's Office at 320-564-2130. The jail administrator can be reached at 320-313-3049 for jail questions that the front line cannot answer. Ask whether another agency, such as probation or a neighboring county, has a hold.

The county lists office hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, and closes on observed holidays. Outside those hours, try 320-564-2130 anyway and ask whether jail staff can help, or call the jail administrator at 320-313-3049.

Call 320-564-2130 first and ask which counter takes bail for your person's case, and what it accepts. On weekdays the court office is in the courthouse at 415 Ninth Avenue, 320-722-7002, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Bring a photo ID and the case number, and keep the receipt.

No. Money for phone time or the store goes to the inmate's personal account and cannot pay a court case. The county jail handbook lays out the detainee rules. Ask the jail administrator, 320-313-3049, where deposits are made so you do not mistake one payment for the other.

A person arrested without a warrant should see a judge within 36 hours, or as soon as a judge is available. Sundays, holidays and the day of arrest are not counted. A misdemeanor defendant who is not brought in time must be released on a citation. A separate 48-hour rule requires a judge to find probable cause.

Because Minnesota has no statewide chart, and Judicial Council policy tells judges not to rely on preset schedules. A judge looks at the charge, evidence, ties to the community, work, history of court dates and safety. Look at the number in Yellow Medicine County Inmate Search.

When the charge is a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor, state law caps cash bail at double the highest cash fine, with a few offenses carrying higher multiples.

Minnesota has no death penalty, so every defendant has a right to have bail set. A judge can still set it high, order conditions, or hold the person for a short time while the court reviews the case. The record may show "no bail" because a hold from probation or another county exists. Ask the jail what it means.

Often. Rule 6.02 starts from a promise to appear or an unsecured bond. The judge may add the least restrictive conditions that will bring the person back, such as reporting, travel limits or staying away from a named person. If money is set, the defendant may be offered more than one way to be released.

The agent charges the surety's filed premium, at least $100, with no rebates. Under chapter 60M, at least half the premium is due before posting a bond of $10,000 or less, and the balance may go on a promissory note due in four months. The agent needs a Commerce Department license and court approval. The premium stays with the agent.

The judge decides under Rule 6.02 whether to accept "other security." Ask the court at 320-722-7002 about equity, timing and paperwork before you sign anything, and ask whether land in another county counts. A bondsman may not use a quitclaim deed as collateral.

The Upper Sioux Community lies in Yellow Medicine County near Granite Falls. Which police agency and which court handle an arrest can depend on who the person is and where the event happened. Ask the arresting officer which agency made the arrest, then call the Sheriff at 320-564-2130 and the court at 320-722-7002 to confirm where the case is filed.

Granite Falls has its own police department. Ask the officer for the report number and the name of the department. Then check Yellow Medicine County Inmate Search to see whether the booking reached the county jail. If it did not, call the Sheriff at 320-564-2130.

Ask the judge for one at the first hearing, or fill out the Minnesota Judicial Branch online application. Court administration, 320-722-7002, can tell you which public defender office covers Yellow Medicine County. The court appoints the lawyer, and you cannot pick.

Ask the Sheriff at 320-564-2130 and the court at 320-722-7002 which juvenile detention center is being used and when the hearing is. Juvenile cases are private, and the adult search will not list a minor.

Missing court can mean a forfeited bond and an arrest warrant. The court must notify the bail agent on strict deadlines. Call a lawyer and the agent immediately.

Cash bail belongs to the defendant and is held until the case ends. A judge may take fines or restitution out first. A bondsman's premium is not refunded. Do not pay anyone who calls demanding gift cards. Dial 320-564-2130 yourself.

Granite Falls is the county seat of Yellow Medicine County and home to the Yellow Medicine County District Court, one of the trial courts in Minnesota's Eighth Judicial District. The Yellow Medicine County Attorney brings every felony and juvenile case, along with misdemeanors from outside city limits; lower-level offenses inside a city can be handled by a city prosecutor. People taken into custody are booked by the Yellow Medicine County Sheriff's Office in Granite Falls.

• Yellow Medicine County District Court (Court Administration, Eighth Judicial District), Yellow Medicine County Courthouse, 415 Ninth Avenue, Suite 201, Granite Falls, MN 56241, (320) 722-7002
• Yellow Medicine County Attorney's Office, Granite Falls, (320) 564-5832
• Eighth District Public Defender, Minnesota Board of Public Defense, 316 Becker Ave. SW, Suite 301, Willmar, MN 56201, (320) 231-6064
• Yellow Medicine County Sheriff's Office (arrests, booking and the county jail), Granite Falls

Which court hears your case. Granite Falls, Canby, Clarkfield and the rest of Yellow Medicine County all send criminal cases to one place: the District Court in Granite Falls. Minnesota abolished municipal courts long ago, so even a city-ordinance citation lands on the District Court docket. What the level of the charge controls is the identity of the prosecutor and the sequence of hearings. A misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor committed inside a city is usually prosecuted by the city's attorney or a contracted private attorney, one committed in a township by the County Attorney, and any felony by the County Attorney.

Where pretrial detainees are held. After an arrest anywhere in Yellow Medicine County, the person is taken to the Sheriff's Office in Granite Falls for booking. In Minnesota the elected sheriff runs the county jail, and a detainee who cannot post bail or win release from a judge remains in the sheriff's custody while the case is pending. Ask the Sheriff's Office or Court Administration at (320) 722-7002 about upcoming hearing dates.

In Yellow Medicine County, as in the rest of Minnesota, the least serious offense is a petty misdemeanor, which is not legally a crime and brings only a fine. Misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors are crimes that can carry jail time, and both are handled in the Granite Falls courtroom.

Booking and getting out

Officers often write a citation instead of making an arrest for a low-level offense. Someone who is arrested and booked can frequently leave after posting bail under the court's schedule. A person who remains in custody must see a Yellow Medicine County judge within 36 hours, not counting the arrest day, Sundays or legal holidays, and a warrantless arrest requires a judge to confirm probable cause within 48 hours.

Arraignment or Rule 5 hearing

Misdemeanor defendants are arraigned; gross misdemeanor defendants have a Rule 5 first appearance. The judge explains the charge and decides release. Low-level defendants are often released on their own recognizance. When money bail is set, the judge typically gives two numbers: a higher one with no conditions and a lower one paired with conditions such as alcohol testing or a no-contact order. A licensed bail bond agent can post bail in Minnesota.

Asking for a public defender

A defendant who could be jailed and cannot afford a private lawyer may request one at the first hearing. The judge looks at income, and qualifying Yellow Medicine County defendants are assigned an attorney from the Eighth District Public Defender, (320) 231-6064.

Pretrial and trial

Most Granite Falls misdemeanor cases are worked out at a pretrial conference. A defendant who does not accept an offer can take the case to a six-person jury, which must be unanimous, or to the judge alone. Making a speedy-trial demand starts a 60-day clock for the trial to begin.

Possible sentences in Yellow Medicine County

• Petty misdemeanor: no jail and a fine that cannot exceed $300 in Granite Falls.
• Misdemeanor: a Yellow Medicine judge can impose up to 90 days and $1,000. This covers theft of $500 or less, simple trespass and first-time fifth-degree assault.
• Gross misdemeanor: the Granite Falls court may order up to 364 days and $3,000, for example for theft from $500 to $1,000 or a repeat fifth-degree assault.
• First Yellow Medicine County DWI: fourth-degree DWI is a misdemeanor; a single aggravating factor (a 0.16 alcohol concentration or more, a child under 16 in the car, or refusing a test) raises it to a third-degree gross misdemeanor. The driver's license is revoked through a separate administrative process, a chemical use assessment is ordered, and aggravated cases can bring ignition interlock, plate impoundment or forfeiture of the vehicle.

In Yellow Medicine County a misdemeanor may close with a dismissal, a continuance for dismissal or a stay of adjudication, which avoids a conviction if probation is completed, as well as fines, probation or a short jail term. Plan on one to four months for a typical case.

The Yellow Medicine County Attorney's Office charges felonies by complaint, wherever in the county the offense occurred. Grand juries are used only for crimes that can bring life in prison.

The first weeks of the case

A felony defendant in custody appears for a Rule 5 hearing within 36 hours. The judge reads the complaint, appoints the public defender if the defendant qualifies, and sets the two-tier bail and any conditions; probation may provide a pretrial evaluation. The Rule 8 hearing, the second appearance, follows and is usually where the County Attorney's first offer arrives.

Omnibus hearing through verdict

At the omnibus hearing, the defense can challenge whether there was probable cause and ask the court to throw out evidence obtained illegally. A settlement or pretrial conference comes next. Most felonies in Granite Falls resolve with a plea; those that do not go to a jury of 12 that must reach a unanimous verdict. After a conviction, probation completes a presentence investigation before sentencing.

How felony sentences are set

The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines grid drives every Yellow Medicine felony sentence. One axis is the severity of the offense, the other is the defendant's criminal history score, and the box where they meet gives a presumptive stayed or executed sentence. Departing from it requires substantial and compelling reasons.

• Yellow Medicine felony theft: up to 5 years for more than $1,000, up to 10 for more than $5,000, up to 20 for more than $35,000.
• Burglary filed in Granite Falls: first degree carries 20 years at most, second degree 10, third degree 5.
• Drug sale in the first degree: a statutory cap of 30 years.
• Second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon: a Yellow Medicine judge may impose up to 7 years, and a firearm triggers a mandatory minimum.

Probation is common for lower-severity offenses. A stay of imposition means a successful probationer's felony is treated as a misdemeanor on the record. An executed prison sentence is generally served two-thirds in prison and one-third on supervised release. Expect four to twelve months from charge to sentencing.

Violent felonies use the same court process in Granite Falls, but the stakes change everything from bail to trial preparation. Judges often set very high bail or strict conditions, and a first-degree murder case must be presented to a grand jury for indictment.

• First-degree murder in Yellow Medicine County: life in prison, with no parole for premeditated murder and certain other first-degree offenses and parole eligibility after 30 years otherwise. There is no death sentence in Minnesota; it was repealed in 1911.
• Second-degree murder: a Granite Falls jury verdict can lead to as many as 40 years. Third-degree murder: as many as 25.
• Criminal sexual conduct, first degree: up to 30 years, with 144 months presumed for a defendant's first such conviction.
• First-degree aggravated robbery in Yellow Medicine County: as long as 20 years.

A victim in a Yellow Medicine County case has chapter 611A rights to be told about hearings, to sit in on them and to give a statement before sentence is pronounced. Qualifying Granite Falls defendants in these serious cases are defended by lawyers from the Eighth District Public Defender. A one- to two-year timeline is common, and complex cases can run longer.

Anyone under 18 who is accused of an offense goes to the juvenile division of Yellow Medicine County District Court in Granite Falls. The County Attorney reviews police reports and decides whether to file a delinquency petition; for many first offenses, the youth is offered diversion instead.

Detained youth are not housed with adults. Yellow Medicine County typically sends them to the nearest regional center, such as Prairie Lakes Youth Programs in Willmar, and a judge must hold a detention hearing within 36 hours of custody, leaving weekends and holidays out of the count. The Eighth District Public Defender is appointed for juveniles who qualify.

For the most serious accusations, Minnesota law provides two routes toward adult penalties. Extended Jurisdiction Juvenile status, available for some 14- to 17-year-olds, adds a stayed adult sentence to the juvenile disposition. Certification to adult court can be sought for youth 14 and older and is presumed for a 16- or 17-year-old charged with an offense carrying presumptive prison or committed with a firearm. A first-degree murder charge against a 16- or 17-year-old in Yellow Medicine County is handled in adult court. Juvenile court records are generally confidential, though some felony records of youth 16 and older are public.

A federal charge from Granite Falls, Canby, Clarkfield or anywhere else in Yellow Medicine County is filed in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, not the Eighth Judicial District. The county is part of Division 4, which sits at the Diana E. Murphy U.S. Courthouse, 300 S. 4th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55415, and Division 4 trial jurors report there. A defendant's initial appearance and detention hearing are often in Minneapolis or St. Paul, more than 100 miles from Granite Falls. The Clerk of Court can be called at (612) 664-5000.

What separates a federal case from a county one is the law involved and, usually, the investigating agency: the FBI, DEA, ATF, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Postal Inspectors or the IRS. Standard examples include drug trafficking, particularly large quantities or drugs brought across state lines; gun possession by a person with a felony conviction and other firearms crimes; fraud schemes; child exploitation; bank robbery; and immigration offenses. Federal prosecutors can adopt an arrest made by the Yellow Medicine County Sheriff's Office, and the same conduct can be charged in state and federal court alike.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota prosecutes federal crimes from its offices at the U.S. Courthouse, 300 S. 4th Street, Suite 600, Minneapolis, MN 55415, (612) 664-5600, and 316 N. Robert Street, Suite 404, St. Paul, MN 55101, (651) 848-1950. Appointed defense is provided by the Office of the Federal Defender for the District of Minnesota, 107 U.S. Courthouse, 300 S. 4th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55415, (612) 664-5858, and when a conflict arises the court appoints a private CJA panel lawyer. The U.S. Marshals Service in Minneapolis, (612) 664-5900, has custody of federal defendants.

Steps in the federal case

Once a Yellow Medicine County resident is arrested by federal agents or on a federal warrant or indictment, a U.S. magistrate judge holds the initial appearance, goes over the charges and appoints counsel. A detention hearing generally follows within three court days if the government seeks it, and the Bail Reform Act lets the judge release the defendant under conditions supervised by U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services, or detain the person if no conditions would assure appearance and safety. There are no bail bondsmen in federal court, and money bail is rare. When the charge started as a complaint, a grand jury indictment must come within 30 days of arrest, unless a preliminary hearing is held, and then the defendant is arraigned. The Speedy Trial Act sets trial within 70 days, though continuances are routine, and most cases close with a plea agreement. Juries have 12 members and must be unanimous. Sentencing typically follows about three months later, after a presentence report, under the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and any mandatory minimum. No parole is available; people serve at least about 85% of the sentence with good-conduct time in a Bureau of Prisons facility, then supervised release. Appeals go to the Eighth Circuit.

Federal pretrial detainees are held where the Marshals have contract space in county jails across Minnesota, and sometimes in other states, so a person arrested in Yellow Medicine County may be moved far from home. The Minneapolis Marshals office can tell relatives where someone is, and the Bureau of Prisons inmate locator shows where sentenced people are. Only rarely does federal court handle a case against someone under 18.