The Detention Center
Becker County Jail
- Operated byBecker County Sheriff's Office
- Capacity (county's own site)186-bed facility
- Jail Administrator (title under the sheriff)Paula Peterson (per DOC report); the county also advertised a 'Jail Administrator' position via its own Human Resources postings page
- What was triedThe Jail Administrator job-posting PDF (https://www.co.becker.mn.us/dept/human_resources/PDFs/postings/reg/Jail%20Administrator^FT^Open%20Until%20Filled.pdf) was refused by a robots.txt fetch error
- Also sourced toMN DOC inspection report (Becker County, 03/18/2026) — https://mn.gov/doc/assets/Becker%20County%20Jail%202026_tcm1089-733398.pdf
Source: Becker County Sheriff's Office & Jail page · checked 2026-09-18
Transparency rating
2/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✗Who is in custody — not published
- ✓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
- Beds186 beds, per Becker County's own Sheriff's Office & Jail page
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Todd Glander
- 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: Becker County Sheriff's Office & Jail page · 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 Becker 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
- A PREA Reporting Form (https://www.co.becker.mn.us/dept/sheriff/PDFs/PREA%20Reporting%20Form%202020.pdf) was found on the county's own site, but it is a reporting/complaint form, not published audit results, so the prea check is marked 'no'.
- No public inmate roster, budget figure, death record, inspection result, contract, bond guidance, or fee schedule was found on the pages of the county's own site that could be opened.
- Becker County Board of Commissioners
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Becker 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