Inmates Arrests Visitation Books
St. Louis County Minnesota Sheriff’s Office
St Louis County - County Jail - Minnesota
St. Louis County Jail Minnesota

 

Introduction

The St. Louis County Jail is the local jail facility for St. Louis County, Minnesota.  It is operated by the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office.  The St. Louis County Jail is responsible for incarcerating offenders from the various law enforcement agencies in St. Louis County.  It also holds fugitives who may be wanted in other counties or other states.  It is also one of the local facilities used by the U.S. Marshall’s Office.

Inmates at the St. Louis County Jail have access to some programs while incarcerated.  In addition to food, clothing, and bedding they can access indoor recreational facilities, recreational programming, educational programming, religious programming, and substance abuse groups.  Inmates who are in need of medical treatment can receive it from a licensed physician and nursing staff who visit the facility or by visiting local clinics, hospitals, or dentists, depending on the type of and severity of the medical need.

St. Louis County actually has multiple jail facilities.  The main jail is a 197 bed facility that is located in Duluth.  In addition, they operate two 72-hour lockup facilities.  One of the facilities is in Hibbing and the other is in Virginia.  Together, these 72-hour lockup facilities can hold 19 inmates.  The 72-hour lockup facilities are short-term facilities designed to hold inmates for lockup.  Inmates who need longer-term housing move to the main jail.  At that jail, the inmates are under direct supervision management, which means that an officer is in the housing unit with the inmates.

The jail is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  The jail handles the processing of the prisoners, which includes fingerprinting, booking, photographing, feeding, issuing clothing, and monitoring the prisoners who are in the jail.  The jail is operated by the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office.  The Sheriff manages the jail.  The Sheriff is elected by people to a four-year term and his duties are defined by statute.  The sheriff is in charge of the care and custody of the jail and is responsible for keeping inmates safe there.

St. Louis County has had jail since before the 1890s, but the early jail was considered a public nuisance because it was not large enough to handle the population.  The city prisoners were kept with the county prisoners, which resulted in vermin and contamination.  The county responded by making plans for a new jail in 1889.  The Sheriff and his wife lived at the jail facility, and the sheriff’s wife shared responsibility for the prisoners.  The jail was the site of the last legal hanging in the state.  In 1923, the county built a new jail.

St. Louis County Jail Addresses

Physical Address

The address for the St. Louis County Jail is:

St. Louis County Jail
4334 Haines Road
Duluth, MN 55811

Inmate Mailing Address

The mailing address for the St. Louis County Jail is:  

Inmate’s Full Name
St. Louis County Jail
4334 Haines Road
Duluth, MN 55811

Detainees who are incarcerated at the St. Louis County Jail have mail privileges, but, like most jails, there are jail mail rules that both senders and recipients must follow. are allowed to receive mail during their incarceration.  However, there are some rules that senders must follow to ensure that the inmates can receive their mail.  All jail mail has to include the sender’s full name and address in the return address position at the top left corner of the envelope or postcard.  Most jails absolutely will not deliver mail that does not contain a return address, and many will not deliver mail that contains third-party letters or other correspondence.

Inmates at the St. Louis County Jail can receive pre-metered (no stamps) postcards that can be purchased from the post office.  Inmates can also get stamped postcards with images, but the images must otherwise comply with the jail’s rules about content.  If a postcard appears to have been tampered with, it will not be delivered.  Avoid all images that could be considered either obscene or violent.  Inmates may also receive mail in regular envelopes, however the only information that should be on the envelope are the return and inmate addresses.  Because of concerns that envelopes may be used to deliver contraband, such as drugs, many jails are moving towards removing mail from envelopes before delivering it to the inmate.  The only things that should be included in the mail to the inmates are letters written with blue or black ink or plain pencil.  No stickers, stamps, glitter, glue, markers, or other items should be used to decorate the letters.  Letters may contain photos that are 4x6 or smaller in size.  The letters cannot be Polaroid or Polaroid-type photos.  They also cannot contain objectionable material, such as obscenity or violence.  Photos should also not include nudity.  This includes “harmless” nudity like baby pictures, therefore keep in mind that even non-sexual nudity may result in content being rejected.

Inmates can receive publications such as newspapers, magazines, and books.  However, they either need to be mailed directly from the publisher or from an authorized third-party retailer with permission to mail things into the jail facility.  They cannot be mailed from an individual.  Not all retailers will have permission to mail things to the jail, so you may want to check with the jail for a current list of authorized third-party sellers before attempting to mail something to an inmate.  In addition, there are content rules for magazines, newspapers, and books.  Content that is violent, obscene, has weapons, or promotes criminality is prohibited.  In addition, books should be softcover and without anything like spiral binding that could be removed and used as a weapon.  Finally, books sent into the facility should be new and not used.

While inmates cannot receive care packages from individuals, it is possible that the St. Louis County Jail has partnered with one or more businesses that allow friends and family to order care packages for inmates and have them delivered to the jail.  These care packages may include a variety of things, from entertainment items to snacks or clothing.  Contact the jail to determine whether they have partnered with any of these third-party vendors, and, if so, whether COVID-19 is impacting delivery.

Phone Number

The main phone number for the St. Louis County Jail is 281-726-2345.  The number for the Duluth Sheriff’s Office is 218-726-2340.  The Hibbing Sheriff’s Office number is 218-262-0234.  The Virginia Sheriff’s Office number is 218-749-7134. 

St. Louis County Jail Roster

The St. Louis County Jail Inmate Roster contains an alphabetical list of all people currently incarcerated in the St. Louis County Jail.  The information on the roster includes the inmate’s full name, date of birth, which facility they are in, the bond amount (if applicable and available), their age, the booking date, the projected release date (if applicable), the arresting agency, the charges against them, the offense level, and the order type.  In addition, there is a mugshot/ booking photo of each inmate on the roster.  The jail roster is updated hourly, but may not include all inmates in one of the jail intake facilities, because inmates are not placed on the jail roster until after they have received a booking number.  In addition, if there is overcrowding at the St. Louis County Jail, then inmates may be moved to another jail facility to ease the overcrowding.  If the inmate is moved from the St. Louis County Jail to another jail facility, that information will be on the jail roster.  If an inmate is moved to another facility, it will only be because of overcrowding and not because of disciplinary proceedings or issues.

Recent Arrests

The St. Louis County Jail does not maintain a separate listing of recent arrests and records arrests alphabetically, but using the St. Louis County Jail Inmate Roster and the CNTL+F function, you can search for incarcerations by booking date and reveal a list of all inmates who were booked on that date.  This allows you to quickly search for inmates who were booked in the last few days. 

Mugshots

The St. Louis County Jail’s register does not have  a separate database for mugshots or inmate booking photos, but they are available on the St. Louis County Jail Inmate Roster.

Jail Visitation

Inmates at the St. Louis County Jail are usually permitted visitors.  However, at this time, there is no visitation at the St. Louis County Jail because of COVID 19.  Contact the jail for up-to-date visitation information. 

Here is the visitation schedule that was in place prior to the pandemic.  It may resume when visitation is safe, or the jail may choose to institute a different visitation schedule. 

Saturday from 1:00pm to 5:00pm and 6:30pm to 8:30pm.  Sunday from 1:00pm to 5:00pm and 6:30pm to 8:30pm.  Tuesday from 1:00pm to 5:00pm.  There is no special holiday visitation unless the holiday happens to fall on Saturday, Sunday, or Tuesday.

Visitors at the St. Louis County Jail must be adults with an appropriate form of photo identification (state-issued driver’s license or ID card, military ID, or passport).  Minors who are visiting an inmate must be accompanied by an adult and may require a birth certificate to visit.  There are limits on the number of visitors at one time and on the number of visitors on an inmate’s visitation list.  As these are likely to have been impacted by the Coronavirus, please contact the jail prior to visitation once visitation resumes to ensure that you are within their new and evolving visitation guidelines.  In addition, visitors are required to comply with a conservative dress code, which generally prohibits clothing that is overly tight or too revealing.  This dress code has generally prohibited facial coverings, but when visitation resumes masks may be permitted and/or required.  Again, it is important to contact the jail prior to visitation to ensure that you are in compliance with any and all current visitation regulations.

Inmate Phone Privileges

Inmates can only place collect phone calls.  The general rule for jails is that inmates cannot receive incoming phone calls, however if there is a verifiable emergency the on-duty officers may choose to relay a message to the inmate for the inmate to call someone.  They will usually not relay messages with other content.  If you have urgent information for an inmate, such as the death or serious illness of a friend or family member, you can contact the duty officer with that information and request their assistance in getting the information to the inmate.  Whether or not to do so is at the discretion of the duty officer.   

It is important to keep in mind that all non-legal phone calls with inmates at the St. Louis County Jail are recorded.  The information in the calls can be used to prosecute the inmates and can even provide evidence against the other person on the phone during the call.  Therefore, it is critical to remember that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy for either party during a jail call.  In addition, discussing prohibited content, such as ongoing criminal activity or escape plans, can result in termination of jail phone privileges for the inmate and the other person, disciplinary proceedings for the inmate, or even further criminal charges.

Inmate Trust Accounts / Commissary

The St. Louis County Jail uses a canteen or commissary system.  This is a way for inmates to purchase items that are not provided by the jail, using money that is deposited onto their inmate trust accounts.  The types of items that are usually available from the commissary include recreational items, writing supplies, art supplies, snacks, and even clothing.  These items may vary seasonally and with availability.   

Usually, there are multiple ways to make deposits to an inmate’s trust account.  The easiest of these is normally to take a deposit to the jail lobby.  However, the jail lobby is currently closed to visitors because of the Coronavirus restrictions.  Therefore, you must use another means to make deposits to the inmate’s accounts.  You can mail a money order to the inmate at the jail to have them deposit money on their trust account.  In addition, the jail may have implemented phone and/or online payment systems to help facilitate deposits into inmate trust accounts.  To find out more information about the availability of those alternate ways to make deposits, contact the jail directly at 218-726-2345.

Bail Information

Usually, the St. Louis County Jail accepts bail for inmates and processes the release of those inmates as soon as bail, or a bail bond, is received.  Bail can either be paid, in full, by an individual on behalf of a detainee or it can be in the form of a bail bond.  A bail bond represents an agreement between the defendant, the bail bond agent, the person paying the bond, and court.  In exchange for a fee, the bail bond agent makes a promise to the court that if the defendant fails to appear at trial or comply with any of other conditions of release, the bail bond agent will pay the full amount of the bond to the court.  The bail agent usually requires the person obtaining the bond to make a promise to compensate them for any amount lost, which can be in the form of a promissory note or lien on property.  In addition, while the full amount of a cash bond is refundable as long as a defendant appears at trial and complies with other conditions of release, the fee paid for a bail bond is not refundable.

Conclusion

The St. Louis County Jail is the local jail run by the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office. It consists of a main jail facility as well as two satellite temporary holding facilities.  The combined capacity of the three facilities is 216 detainees.  The main jail is located at 4334 Haines Road, Duluth, MN.  The main phone number for the St. Louis County Jail is 281-726-2345. If you need to reach one of the satellite facilities, you can contact the satellite sheriff’s office in those areas.  The number for the Hibbing Sheriff’s satellite office is 218-262-0234, and the number for the Virginia Sheriff’s satellite office is 218-749-7134.  All St. Louis County facilities are currently under closed orders due to Coronavirus, but the situation is constantly evolving.  Please contact the facility directly to ensure that no information has changed since being published.

 


Year Built or Opened: 1923 Total Capacity: 197 Security Level(s): minimum - medium

Inmate’s Full Name
St. Louis County Jail
4334 Haines Road
Duluth, MN 55811

Phone Number(s): 218-726-23
Email Address: [email protected]

4334 Haines Road
Duluth, MN 55811