The Koochiching County Jail located at 715 4^th Street, in International Falls, Minnesota is the local county jail facility for Koochiching County.  It is run by Peter Kaler, the jail administrator, and overseen by the Koochiching County Sheriff’s Department at the county’s Law Enforcement Center.  The Koochiching County Sheriff is Perryn Hedlund.

The Koochiching County Jail is a very small facility, even for county jail facilities.  It has a total of 30 beds and houses male and female adult detainees in Koochiching County.  Because of its small size, the Koochiching County Jail is able to maintain a less formal environment than many similar jail facilities.  However, it also maintains relatively high standards for behavior from both inmates and staff.  Inmates receive a handbook when they enter the jail, which explicitly outlines the rules and regulations that they must follow while in the jail facility.

The jail rules are not designed to make the jail more punitive, but to ensure the safety of inmates, that inmates live in decent living conditions, and that all the inmates are treated fairly.  As a result, failure to obey the rules will be the basis for corrective disciplinary action, which may be punitive.  Potential disciplinary action includes a loss of privileges, segregation, or even additional criminal charges.

For a small jail, the Koochiching County Jail has a surprising number of available services.  Church services will be held Sunday afternoons and Wednesday afternoons, and Bible Study is scheduled on Thursday mornings from 9:00 a.m. until 10:30 a.m.  Inmates can request private counseling sessions from the Jail Ministry, but must request them by asking the Corrections Officer on duty before 4:00 p.m. on Sunday or before 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday.  NA services may be provided upon request, but are not regularly held at the jail.  Drug and Alcohol Recovery meetings are held on Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m. in the Jail Library. An AA Sanctioned AA Men’s meeting is held in the Jail Library at 7:00 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month and women’s AA Sanctioned meetings are scheduled on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m..  If you have been court ordered to attend AA or NA, you must attend them while in the jail facility.  If G.E.D. services are needed, they can be scheduled with the corrections officer.

Koochiching County Jail Addresses

Physical Address

Koochiching County Jail
715 4^th Street
International Falls, MN 56649

Mailing Address

The Koochiching County Jail mailing address for non-inmate mail is:

Koochiching County Jail
715 4^th Street
International Falls, MN 56649

Inmate Mailing Address

To send an inmate at the Koochiching County Jail mail via the U.S. Postal Service, you send it to the following address:

Inmate Name
Koochiching County Jail
715 4^th Street
International Falls, MN 56649

According to the Koochiching County Jail Inmate Handbook, the following rules apply to inmate mail:
1. Inmates may send and receive letter correspondence.

2. All incoming and outgoing mail will be inspected for contraband; however, unless there is documented justification to read the mail, the mail will not be read.

3. Even if there is justification to read other inmate mail, some mail will not be read; mail between the prisoner and an attorney, Judge, elected official or an official of the Department of Corrections will be opened in the presence of the inmate.

4. Inmates may send or receive as much mail as they want to send or receive, as long as inmate are able to purchase their own stamps. 

5. Indigent inmates still have mail services; inmates who are determined indigent are allowed two social letters per week at the expense of the jail and unlimited professional mail at the expense of the jail.

6. Inmates can request for their incoming mail not to be opened; instead, it can be placed in their personal locker as long as corrections officers are advised ahead of time by the inmate that this is the inmate’s wish.

7. Inmates cannot receive packages in the mail, either from personal correspondents or from businesses. 

8. Inmates give their outgoing mail to the Corrections Officer on duty to be mailed through the Koochiching County mail system.

9. All outgoing mail must remain unsealed so that it can be searched for contraband prior to being sent outside of the facility. It must also include a full return address; letters without full return addresses will be rejected.  The return address should be: Inmate Name,  Koochiching County Jail, 715 4th Street, International Falls, MN 56649.

10. Any contraband that is found might be seized, destroyed, returned to the sender, put into inmate’s property, or put into evidence, depending on the nature of the contraband.

11. All mail must come through the U.S. Postal Service; notes from visitors will not be delivered and inmates cannot give mail to guards to send for them.

12. If an inmate is the Respondent in an Order for Protection or in a Harassment Order, any correspondence sent to the Petitioner in that same Order will be confiscated as evidence.

Phone Numbers

The main contact number for the Koochiching County Jail is 218-283-4416.  The Inmate Message Phone number is 218-285-9525.  The Koochiching County Jail also participates in the Minnesota State Victim Notification Service (VINE) system.  This system allows crime victims to use the telephone or internet to find information regarding an offender’s custody status.  Victims may even register to receive telephone and/or email notifications anytime that an offender’s custody status changes.  The phone number for Minnesota is 877-664-8463.

Koochiching County Jail Roster

Koochiching County Jail maintains an online jail roster in PDF format, which is known as the Koochiching County Jail Roster.  It is updated regularly and includes a list of all inmates currently incarcerated in the jail facility.  However, because it is a small jail in a small county, there are times that the roster does not display any inmates, because none of the jail’s 30 beds have inmates, at that time.    The .pdf does not have search functions; it is only a .pdf document.  However, you can utilize your computers CNTL + F function to pull up the find box in the .pdf file and then search for inmates using characteristics you enter into that find box.  This will rarely be necessary, because, even at full capacity, the jail only holds 30 inmates, making it easy to look over the entire jail roster in a very short period of time.

Inmate Search / Recent Arrests

Koochiching County Jail does not maintain a list of recent bookings or arrests, but it does maintain an online jail roster, which is known as the Koochiching County Jail Roster.  This .pdf file is updated regularly, though not on a daily basis.  This is because there are not daily changes to the Koochiching County Jail population.  In fact, given the small size of the jail, weeks may pass before there are changes in the jail’s population and the jail may be unpopulated for relatively large stretches of time.

Jail Visitation

Jail visitation is every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.  Visitation is from 1pm to 3pm for male inmates and 3pm to 4pm for female inmates.

Visits from professionals, including attorneys, clergy, doctors, and professional counselors, are not restricted to visitation times.  Instead, these professional visits may occur at any reasonable time, except during meals and after evening lock up.

For social visits, the following rules apply:

1. Visits may be restricted to a 20-minute visit per day with any one individual.  This does not mean that visits necessarily will be restricted; visitors may be given longer visits at the jailer’s discretion, and whether this will occur is largely dependent upon how many inmates are in the jail and what the visitation needs are for that visitation time block.

2.  All visitors must register giving names, date of birth, addresses and relationship to inmate so that the inmate can provide that information with the jail prior to visitation.

3.  All visitors are required to provide picture identification

4.  All visitors will be checked for criminal history, warrants, etc., when they check in for visitation.

5.  All visitors must be adults (18 years of age or older).  The only exception to this is that an inmate’s children may visit the inmate in jail, regardless of age, as long as they are accompanied by the other parent or a guardian.  An inmate who wants to be able to compel the other parent or a guardian to bring a child to visit will have to have the Court resolve the issue; the jail cannot provide this.

6.  Visiting is a privilege, not a right.  Therefore, visiting privileges may be restricted or denied as a result of minor or major jail policy violations. For more information in this regard please refer to the Violations and Discipline Plan in the inmate handbook, which is accessible online.

7.  Some inmates may be denied visitation privileges all together, including inmates who are believed to present a compromise to the safety and security of the facility. 

8.  All social visits are non-contact visits.

9.  Inmates have the right to refuse any visit, even if a visitor has been pre-approved

10.  The jail can terminate or refuse visits.  In fact, it  reserves the right to terminate or refuse any visit that may constitute a threat to safety, security, or good order of the facility.

11. Visitation may be denied if the inmate is under disciplinary sanctions.

12.  Visitors must wear proper attire at all times. The jail does not have an extensive dress code, but the following items are prohibited: cut off shorts, tank tops, and tube tops are allowed.  In addition, shorts must cover to mid-thighs; shirts must cover to neck; and sleeves must pass shoulders.

13. The Corrections Officer on duty has the discretion to refuse a visitor based upon inappropriate attire or behavior and their decision is final.

14.  During visitation, visitors must remain seated on the provided chair and are not allowed to sit, stand or lay on the counter in the visiting room. If found in violation of this rule, future visiting could be denied.

15. Any attempt to bring contraband or weapons into the facility will result in arrest and criminal prosecution and denial of future visiting privileges for 90 days.

16.  No cell phones at visitation.

Inmate Phone Privileges

Koochiching County Jail inmates cannot receive incoming calls, but they can receive messages.  The Inmate Message Phone number is 218-285-9525.  For emergency messages, you can contact the Koochiching County Jail staff; at their discretion, they may choose to immediately convey an emergency message to an inmate, but even emergency circumstances will not result in inmates being permitted to take an incoming phone call.

According to the inmate handbook, the following rules apply to inmate phone calls:

1. Inmate phone calls can, and will, be monitored.

2. Abuse of phone privileges may result in inmate discipline or criminal charges.

3. The phones are turned on and off from inside the Jail Control Room.

4. A phone book is available upon request.

5. To make a phone call, an inmate has the option of buying a telephone credit card from the Corrections Officer, or he can make a collect call. Further information and instruction regarding use of the inmate phone system is posted by each inmate telephone. Your family or friends may also purchase telephone minutes for you online at reliancetelephone.com.

6. Inmates cannot receive in-coming phone calls.

7. Corrections Officers do not take messages for inmates unless it is a legitimate emergency. When a legitimate Emergency exists, Corrections Officers will take a name and telephone number so that you can return the call as soon as possible.

8. Inmates will not be allowed to use the Booking Room telephone unless it is a legitimate emergency, they do not have money for a phone card, and the calling party will not accept collect calls. An example of a legitimate emergency is a death in the family. With all such emergency phone calls, the Corrections Officer will be standing next to the inmate when the emergency phone call is made.

Inmate Trust Accounts / Commissary

Koochiching County Jail offers canteen services, which inmates can access via the vending machines in their units.  Each unit has a posted schedule about when inmates can access the canteen accounts.

Inmates can obtain additional hygiene items from canteen, but the following items are available for free from the jail: a razor and shaving cream.  An inmate can request a razor from the Corrections Officer only between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. in the morning. All razors and shaving cream must be returned to the Corrections Officer by 9:00 a.m.  Inmates may also request a comb, deodorant, hand soap, shampoo, or a toothbrush.  Those items must be requested between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. daily the night before they are needed.

Bail Information

In Koochiching County, Minnesota, you need to contact the jail or the courthouse to find out if an inmate has been given bond and get further bond instructions.

Koochiching County Jail offers a work release program known as the Huber Program.  Work Release inmates are required to pay a cost per diem (per day) to the Koochiching County Jail for their room and board.  This price is set by the County Board and is the same for all inmates.  They will be charged for every day of their incarceration.  The fee depends on the type of inmates, and are: 1. $25.00 per day for Koochiching County inmates doing straight time. 2. $35.00 per day for Koochiching County inmates doing intermittent or broken sentences. 3. $60.00 per day for Inmates sentenced in other jurisdictions. These payments are mandatory, not optional, and inmates must make a Huber payment at least once every two weeks. If an inmate is one week overdue on his payment, he has committed a Minor Violation of Jail rules. If an inmate is two weeks overdue on his Huber payments, he is subject to discipline of a Minor Violation of Jail Rules, second offense. If an inmate is three weeks over due on his Huber payments he has committed a Major Violation of Inmate rules and is subject to Huber termination.

Conclusion

The Koochiching County Jail is a local jail facility in International Falls, Minnesota.  It is located at 715 4^th Street in International Falls.  Under the auspices of the Koochiching County Sheriff’s Department, the jail is run by the jail administrator.