The Detention Center
Anoka County Jail
- Operated byAnoka County Sheriff's Office
- Address325 East Jackson Street, Anoka, MN 55303
- Capacity (county's own site)238-bed facility
- Jail Administrator (title under the sheriff, per DOC report)Sheila Larson
- Separate facility also DOC-licensedAnoka County Workhouse (separate inspection reports; https://mn.gov/doc/assets/Anoka%20County%20Workhouse%202025_tcm1089-689478.pdf)
- What was triedSheriff's Office page (https://www.anokacountymn.gov/4176/Sheriffs-Office) and Inmate Locator page (https://www.anokacountymn.gov/727/Inmate-Locator) both refused by robots.txt fetch errors on repeated attempts; Divisions page (https://www.anokacountymn.gov/1389/Divisions) timed out
- Also sourced toAnoka County Jail facility page — https://www.anokacountymn.gov/facilities/facility/details/Anoka-County-Jail-40
- Also sourced toMN DOC inspection report (Anoka County, 11/20/2025) — https://mn.gov/doc/assets/Anoka%20County%202025_tcm1089-715032.pdf
Source: Anoka County Jail / Warrants page · checked 2026-09-18
Transparency rating
3/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✓Who is in custody
- ✓Beds and daily population
- ✗What it costs taxpayers — not published
- ✗Deaths in custody — not published
- ✗PREA audits — not published
- ✗Independent inspection — not published
- ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
- ✗How to post bond — not published
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year builtNot found
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds238 beds, per Anoka County's own Jail/Warrants page
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Brad Wise
- Runs the jailYes — elected sheriff has charge and custody of the county jail under Minn. Stat. 387.11 and 641.14 (MN state layer)
- How the office is filledElected countywide to a four-year term under Minn. Stat. 382.01 (MN state layer)
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: MN DOC inspection report (Anoka County, 11/20/2025) · checked 2026-09-18
The Judges
Minnesota district judges are elected on a nonpartisan ballot to six-year terms, but most first reach the bench by gubernatorial appointment to a mid-term vacancy. Bail at first appearance is set by the court under Minn. R. Crim. P. 6.02.
Minnesota District Court (judicial district covering Anoka County)
- Not found
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to first appearance
Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-09-18
The County Commissioners
They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.
- What they controlThe detention budget, the building itself, and the agreements that let other agencies rent its beds.
- What they don'tDay-to-day operations. The sheriff is separately elected and answers to voters, not to the board.
- The boardBoard of County Commissioners
Notes on the record
- Anoka is a large suburban county with a real, county-published jail page naming the facility, describing its 238-bed capacity, and describing an Inmate Locator tool — enough to pass three checks on the county's own domain.
- Several Anoka County pages (Sheriff's Office, Inmate Locator, Divisions) could not be opened due to repeated robots.txt fetch failures/timeouts; budget, deaths, PREA, inspections, contracts, bond and fee information were not found within what could be opened.
- Anoka County Board of Commissioners
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Anoka County and what it costs the people who live here. Nationally, almost 77% of the people who died in local jails in 2019 had not been convicted of anything, and suicide was the leading single cause of those deaths (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2019).
How much is your sheriff — and your judge — costing you?
Your VOTE is POWERFUL.
The sheriff who runs this jail is elected. So are the commissioners who pay for it.
Names verified 2026-09-18 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered