St. Louis County Jail Releases
The St. Louis County Jail is the Sheriff's main adult booking and processing site. A person may leave after posting bond, under a court order, at the end of a jail sentence, or for another lawful reason. The same person may instead be sent to another county jail because of crowding, delivered to the Minnesota Department of Corrections after a prison commitment, or handed to another authority on a hold. Those outcomes all remove the person from the Duluth jail's physical count, but only some are releases to the community.
The fastest public evidence of a recent local release is the Sheriff's official jail roster page. Select the 48 hour Release Roster, then read the report timestamp and the row's exact Released Date. The row confirms that a Sheriff booking ended at that time. It does not give a normalized release reason or destination. For that, pair it with the court order in Minnesota Court Records Online or request the Sheriff's existing release and transfer data.
Confirm St. Louis Jail Release
The public PDFs are updated on an hourly cycle, not in real time. A newly admitted person may not appear until a booking number is assigned. A newly completed release can also take time to reach the regenerated report. Search with more than a name whenever possible because names can be shared and spelling may vary.
- Open the Sheriff roster landing page and choose the 48 hour Release Roster, not only the current Jail Roster.
- Check the “Released Inmates as of” time so the report's rolling window is clear.
- Match the name with the jail number, age or date of birth when shown, booking date, arresting agency, and location.
- Record the actual Released Date and time. Do not substitute a projected date from the current roster.
- Read the case in MCRO for the order or docket event that explains the legal basis.
- If the row has rolled off or the destination remains unclear, call the jail or request the underlying release and transfer record.
The broader St. Louis County released inmate search and records path also distinguishes county, state, and federal systems. For a state prison commitment, the MN DOC Public Viewer becomes the current-jurisdiction source. Minnesota VINE can provide county-jail custody alerts, but an alert is not a certified historical record.
St. Louis Jail Release Records
The jail can give current operational confirmation. Historical proof belongs with Sheriff Central Records. A precise request should identify the person, jail or booking number if known, approximate dates, and the exact data sought. Ask for adult arrest or booking data showing the date, time, and legal basis of release. If transfer is possible, separately request the transfer date and time, receiving agency, and legal basis.
Jail and Records Contacts
St. Louis County Jail
4334 Haines Road
Duluth, MN 55811
218-726-2345
Facility operates 24 hours a day
Sheriff Central Records
100 North Fifth Avenue West, Room 103
Duluth, MN 55802
218-726-2340
DSO.Records@StLouisCountyMN.gov
Use the Sheriff's public-data request channel and the non-body-worn-camera form for an existing jail record. Inspection of public government data is free under Minnesota law. Copy fees depend on the request, so ask for an estimate. No source establishes a flat release-record fee or a fixed response deadline. The underlying record may remain requestable after its web row expires.
St. Louis Jail Custody Record
The Sheriff's current description identifies a 197-bed, full-service adult county jail. It operates around the clock at Haines Road and has handled intake, fingerprinting, photographs, confinement, and release or transfer processing since the present facility opened in 1995. The jail also holds some U.S. Marshals prisoners. That federal role does not turn every booking into a federal sentence, and a USMS prisoner may later move to another contract site.
The two county PDFs serve different purposes. The current Jail Roster shows people in the Sheriff's active physical population and may include a projected release field. The Release Roster shows bookings that ended within its rolling period and supplies an actual date and time. Neither PDF includes a photograph. Neither replaces a signed court order or the full Sheriff record.
| Source | Best use | Key limit |
|---|---|---|
| Current Jail Roster | Current booking and location | Not proof of actual release |
| 48 hour Release Roster | Recent Released Date and time | No reason or destination |
| Sheriff record | Release or transfer basis | Must be requested after rollover |
| MCRO court file | Order, disposition, and case events | May not show the door time |
St. Louis Jail Transfer Records
St. Louis County warns that people can be moved to other jails to relieve overcrowding and that these moves are not disciplinary. The current roster's Location field may name Pine County Jail, Carlton County Jail, Douglas County Wisconsin Jail, or another site. Contact the named site. A person can remain tied to a St. Louis County case while being physically held elsewhere.
Minnesota public arrest data make the distinction useful. A transfer record can identify the receiving agency and the legal basis, while release data can identify the date, time, and legal basis of release. A generic “Hold for other Agency” entry does not establish which authority is involved. No St. Louis County ICE detention agreement was established in the research. If the Sheriff specifically identifies ICE as the receiving agency, the ICE locator is then a sensible follow-up, subject to its lag and coverage limits. Do not infer ICE custody from a hold label alone.
St. Louis Jail Release History
County jail operations in St. Louis County date to 1871. The downtown jail built in 1923 remained in service until the current Haines Road jail opened in 1995. State compliance concerns about the older site helped prompt the move. Historical addresses should never be used as current pickup or release points.
The history also explains why the three Sheriff facilities differ. Duluth is the full-service jail, while Hibbing and Virginia are small Range lockups. Current county material describes eight beds in Hibbing and twelve in Virginia. Their short-term function means a detainee can move to Duluth or another jail before a case ends. The entire county therefore cannot be read as one fixed building, even though the Sheriff publishes a county-wide roster.
After St. Louis Jail Release
The county does not publish one standard release hour, exit rule, or family waiting schedule. Call 218-726-2345 before collecting property so staff can confirm it is ready, and bring picture identification. The county's instructions concern property pickup, not the timing of the online report.
An official Minnesota report says St. Louis County provides a free Sheriff telephone in the jail lobby after release. Program funds also support winter clothing for people who lack it and other reentry supplies. That detail matters in Duluth's climate. Duluth Transit Authority material has identified a jail stop on Haines Road, but routes and detours change. Check current transit planning rather than assuming an old route remains in effect.
Post-release supervision is a separate status. Arrowhead Regional Corrections handles local community-corrections work, while MN DOC supervises qualifying state cases. A release from the building can therefore coexist with court conditions or active supervision. The sentencing order identifies which agency and terms apply.
For a bond departure, confirm the release rather than relying on bond eligibility. St. Louis County publishes a local bail-bond explanation and points to the state-approved agent list. Posting bond creates pretrial release and does not resolve guilt or end the case. The 48 hour report can establish the actual exit time, while MCRO can show the court order and later hearings. Because the report has no normalized release-reason field, do not label a departure as a bond release from the bail amount alone.