The Detention Center
Cottonwood County Jail
- Operated byCottonwood County Sheriff's Office
- Approved capacity21 beds, secure coed (per DOC inspection report)
- Jail administrator named in DOC reportJason Rupp
- Public in-custody listJail roster PDF generated twice daily at 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM Central Time, per the county's own jail-roster page
- What was triedThe county's fee-schedule page (.../sheriff/fee_schedule.php) and departments index (.../departments/index.php) both redirected from co.cottonwood.mn.us to cottonwoodcountymn.gov, but the redirected target repeatedly failed with a provenance/approval error and could not be opened; the Board of Commissioners FAQ page likewise redirected and could not be opened.
- Also sourced toMN DOC — Cottonwood County Jail Inspection Report — https://mn.gov/doc/assets/Cottonwood%20County%202026_tcm1089-767801.pdf
Source: Cottonwood County jail roster page · checked 2026-09-18
Transparency rating
2/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✓Who is in custody
- ✗Beds and daily population — not published
- ✗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
- Beds21 beds, secure coed, per MN DOC inspection report; not independently published on the pages of the county's own site that could be opened
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Jason Purrington
- 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 — Cottonwood County Jail Inspection Report, dated 09/02/2026 (issued 09/10/2026) · 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 Cottonwood 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
- The county's domain redirects from co.cottonwood.mn.us to cottonwoodcountymn.gov; several pages on the destination domain (fee schedule, departments index, commissioners FAQ) repeatedly failed to open after the redirect within this session, so 'fees', 'capacity' and 'budget' could not be confirmed from the county's own site even though relevant page titles were visible in search results.
- Cottonwood County Board of Commissioners (5 districts, per the county's own site)
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Cottonwood 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