About Prison

The Sibley County Jail, located in Gaylord, Minnesota, is the local county-level jail facility for Sibley County, Minnesota.  It is operated by the Sibley County Sheriff’s Department.  The Sibley County Jail was built in 1995 as a replacement for Sibley County’s original jail, which had been built in 1915 and was designed to house 12 inmates, but could only actually house 6 inmates after Minnesota changed its requirements for inmate housing.  The old jail closed in December 1992, but the new jail was not replaced until 1995.  The current jail can house up to 20 people, including 6 Huber (Work Release) inmates.  While the average daily population of the jail is low, around 14 or 15 inmates, the jail can book over 500 inmates per year.

The Sibley County Jail is handled by the Jail Administrator.  The Jail Administrator is Lieutenant Aaron Louwagie.  The Jail Administrator is responsible for supervising the operation of the jail and the dispatch center.  The Jail Administrator is in charge of a staff that includes: 8 full time correction officers/ dispatchers, 4 part time officers, 1 full time clerical assistant, 3 part time staff, and 1 full time jail cook. The Sibley County Jail’s cook has a full kitchen and staff responsible for providing meals for the inmates.  All correction officers are also trained as dispatchers and handle dispatch duties for the Sibley County Sheriff’s Department.  In their position as correctional officers, these staffers are responsible for ensuring that the jail is safe and security, which means being responsible for the safety and security of inmates, staff, and volunteers.  In their role as dispatchers, these same employees take 911 calls, dispatch for all of the law enforcement agencies in Sibley County, and page fire and ambulance services.

Inmates are supervised both remotely and in-person.  There are 16 cameras that supervise the inmates.  In addition, there is a roving corrections officer that supervises the inmates in person and is responsible for conducting 30 well checks every 30 minutes.  All four dayrooms can be monitored simultaneously because of the cameras.

Inmates can get access to medical care, with 24/7 medical care available for emergencies.  Advanced Correctional Healthcare provides contracted healthcare services.  They send out nurses for routine sick calls, provide on-call doctors for emergency scenarios, and provide professional mental health services.

Inmates at the Sibley County Jail may enjoy certain privileges, but they can be lost or revoked if the inmate becomes a disciplinary problem or the jail needs to revoke privileges for security reasons.  Some of these privileges include library, board games, card games, television, and access to a recreation room.  In addition, inmates are allowed non-contact visits with their friends and relatives.

Some inmates are eligible to serve in the Sentence to Serve (STS) program.  This program allows inmates to operate in a community service work program providing work for non-profit organizations.  This is similar to a work release, but is not the same as a work release program.  In a work release program, you get released from jail during the day in order to go to work, but return to the jail on nights and weekends.

Sibley County Jail Addresses

Physical Address

Sibley County Jail is located at:

419 Harrison St.
Gaylord, MN 55334

Mailing Address

The mailing address for non-inmate mail is:

Sibley County Jail
419 Harrison St.
PO Box 102
Gaylord, MN 55334

Inmate Mailing Address

The mailing address inmate mail is:

Inmate’s Full Name, CDC#
Sibley County Jail
419 Harrison St.
PO Box 102
Gaylord, MN 55334

Inmates at Sibley County Jail can receive mail.  In Minnesota, inmates can get mail via the United States Postal Service, but also via private delivery companies.  Examples of private delivery companies include companies like DHL, UPS, and Fed Ex.  Before sending mail via a private delivery company, contact the jail to ensure that the carrier is permitted to deliver to the jail.  The jail will not deliver hand-delivered or private courier delivered messages or mail to inmates.

While the jail does not provide a detailed list of rules for inmate mail, there are general rules that govern inmate mail.  The following items are not allowed in inmate mail: Polaroid pictures, pornography, pictures that contain nudity, pictures or letters than contain any type of sexual content, weapons, drinks, snacks, drugs, medications (prescription nor over-the counter), letters with glue or glitter, stickers, disturbing or offensive content, gang-related content, content describing criminal activity, or material that could be used to plan a jail escape or incite a riot.

Inmates can receive books, magazines, and newspapers at the Sibley County Jail.  However, they must be mailed directly from the publisher or through an authorized retailer.  They cannot be sent directly from the sender, nor can they be brought to the jail facility.

Phone Number

The Sibley County Jail’s main phone number is 507-237-4334. The fax number is 507-237-4307.  The email is [email protected].

Sibley County Jail Roster

The Sibley County Jail has a jail roster that provides an alphabetical list of all of the people incarcerated at the jail.  The information on the roster includes: a booking photo/ mugshot; MNI; first name; last name; middle name; gender; age; booking number; intake date; the charges against the inmate; bond for each charge; conditions on bond, if applicable; and information on bail received and bond received. 

Jail Bookings / Recent Arrests

The Sibley County Jail does not have a recent arrest or jail booking list.  It does have a jail roster, however inmates are listed alphabetically, not by date of incarceration.  However, since the jail population is relatively small, you can easily search the jail roster to find recently arrested or booked people.  In addition to booking date information, you can also find the following information on the jail roster: first name; last name; middle name; gender; age; a booking photo/ mugshot; MNI; booking number; the charges against the inmate; bond for each charge; conditions on bond, if applicable; and information on bail received and bond received. 

Mugshots

The Sibley County Jail does not have a designated mugshot/ booking photo database, but there are booking photos/ mugshots available on the jail roster.

Jail Visitation

Inmates at Sibley County Jail are permitted visitors.  Visiting Hours for the Sibley County Jail are as follows: Tuesdays from 1:00pm to 5:00pm; Saturdays from 1:00pm to 5:00pm; and Sundays from 1:00pm to 5:00pm.  Each inmate can get one visit per visiting day.  Visits are 20 minutes and may be shortened due to visiting needs.

All adult (18 years and older) visitors have to be able to provide government-issued photo identification in order to visit.  All minor visitors have to be accompanied by an adult, usually a parent or guardian unless the jail has given permission for a minor to visit with another adult or without an adult.  If you bring children to visitation, you cannot leave them unsupervised, even in the jail lobby.  Unsupervised children will result in the jail ending your visitation period and may even result in an end of visitation privileges. 

Visitors will not be allowed to visit if they are intoxicated or under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Although the Sibley County Jail does not publish a dress code online, almost all jails require that visitors dress modestly when visiting the jail facility.  Generally, visitors cannot wear low-cut or revealing clothing. Prohibited items usually include cleavage-baring clothing, see-through clothing, tight clothing, short-shorts, mini-skirts, tank tops, spaghetti straps, and clothing with offensive or sexually explicit messages on them.  If you are in doubt about whether an outfit would violate a dress code, do not wear it.

Visitors cannot bring additional items (cell phones, purses, food, drinks, etc.) into the visiting room.

Visiting is a privilege, not a right.  That means that the staff at the Sibley County Jail can refuse to allow visitation to occur if they believe the visit could somehow threaten jail security.  In addition, an inmate may be denied visitation for disciplinary reasons. 

Inmate Phone Privileges

The inmates at the Sibley County Jail can place outgoing phone calls, but cannot receive incoming phone calls.

Sibley County Jail uses Securus Technologies to provide its phone services.  To set up accounts with Securus Technology, you can visit them online at https://www.securustech.net or call Correctional Billing Services at 800-844-6591.  If you do not want to receive inmate phone calls, you can contact them to block your number.

Inmate calls are recorded and may be monitored, except for privileged communication, like attorney phone calls.

Inmate Trust Accounts / Commissary

You may wonder why inmates would need money while in jail, since the jail supplies necessities.  While a jail does supply necessities, they are the bare bones supplies.  That is why the jail offers commissary services. A commissary, which is also known as a canteen, is a store inside the jail.  It may be a physical store, it may be a way to order, or it may be vending machines.  Usually it is run through an order system with commissary delivery days once per week.  Commissary sells items that go beyond the basics that inmates get from the jail system.  These items include things like: food, snacks, drinks, clothes, underwear, shoes, soap, shampoo, conditions, lotion, shavers, lip balm, over-the-counter medications, books, magazines, small electronics, paper, stamps, envelopes, drawing supplies, and some entertainment supplies.  If an inmate is indigent, then they may get some money on their commissary account, or at least be able to get some commissary items like stamps and writing supplies.

Funds for an inmate’s commissary account come from an inmate’s trust account.  Generally, a trust account is opened for an inmate when the inmate is admitted to the jail facility.  You can deposit money into an inmate’s jail account in person, by mailing money to the facility, and using deposit companies like MoneyGram.  You can also send a money order to the facility for deposit into the inmate’s trust account; however, it may need to be a postal order issued money order.

Generally, only the inmate you send money to can access the funds.   However, inmate funds may also be used for other services, not just the commissary purchases.  This means that commissary funds can be used for things like medical expenses, phone calls, and other expenses that an inmate might encounter.

If an inmate is asking for more money than usual, that is a sign that the inmate may be encountering problems in the jail situation.  An unusual or abnormal need for money could indicate that the inmate is being extorted, is purchasing contraband in the facility, or is gambling.

Bail Information

The Sibley County Jail has information about bail, bonds, and whether they have been received available on their jail roster. 

You can pay bail or bonds at the Sibley County Sheriff’s Office or at the court where the bail was set.  You can hire a bond agent to pay the bail, but the bond agent has to be approved and licensed in Minnesota.  Hiring a bond agent involves paying a non-refundable fee for bond.  This is important to know because many people erroneously believe that bail and bond are the same thing.  However, they are not.  Bail is the amount set by the court to secure an inmate’s release.  You pay the bond amount in cash.  (Cash bond payments must be the full and exact amount).  If you are unable to pay the full amount, then you can hire a bonding agent/ bail bondsman.  They do not pay the full amount of cash bail to a court; instead, they promise the court that the inmate will appear for all hearings and other required appearances.  If a defendant fails to appear, then the bonding agent has to pay the full amount of the bail to the court.  To secure a bond, you usually have to pay a percentage of the bond to the bonding agent.  If you pay cash bail, you have to put up the full amount of the bail, but that amount is refundable as long as the defendant complies with the conditions of bail, even if the defendant is convicted at trial.

Conclusion

The Sibley County Jail is a county-level jail facility in Sibley County, Minnesota.  It is run under the auspices of the Sibley Count Sheriff’s Office.  The Sheriff’s Office is responsible for providing a number of different law enforcement services for the county.  They are responsible for patrolling the entirety of Sibley County’s 588 square miles, crime investigation, jail, and civil process.  The Sheriff’s Office has 30 full and part time deputies, corrections officers, dispatchers, and clerical staff.  There are 17 townships and four cities in Sibley County that are under the auspices of the Sibley County Sheriff’s Office.  The Sheriff is Patrick Nienaber.

You can reach the Sibley County Jail at 507-237-4334.  You can directly contact the Jail Administrator at 507-237-4337.  Jail and dispatch are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  The jail is located at 419 Harrison Street in Gaylord, Minnesota.

While the Sibley County Jail is under the Sheriff’s Office, it is handled by the Jail Administrator.  The current Jail Administrator is Lieutenant Aaron Louwagie; he is the one responsible for supervising both the dispatch center and jail operations.  He has a relatively small staff, and the correctional officers also work as dispatchers, whether they are full-time or part-time officers.  They supervise up to 20 inmates, and they are able to do so because the facility uses a number of cameras for remote supervision, which makes it possible for a single officer to handle in person supervision walk through duties and well checks.

The facility is a smaller local jail facility, which holds a variety of inmates including pretrial detainees, inmates who are facing trial, inmates who have been convicted and are awaiting sentencing, sentenced inmates who are serving their sentences at the Sibley County Jail, and inmates who are sentenced and awaiting transfer to another correctional facility.  The jail does not have a large range of jail programs, but inmates may be entitled to privileges like visitation, television access, library services, recreation room access, visits, board games, and card games. Inmates also have access to health services; they have access to a nurse for sick visits, doctors for emergency illnesses, and mental health services.

Sibley County Jail Data & Statistics: