The Detention Center
Lincoln County Jail (Law Enforcement Center)
- Operated byLincoln County Sheriff's Office
- Address322 N. Wallace St., P.O. Box 166, Ivanhoe, MN 56142
- Built2001, per the county's own site
- Capacity'Designed to hold up to 15 inmates,' per the county's own site
- What was triedThe MN DOC's Lincoln County report PDFs (both the 2025 primary report and the 2025 corrective action response letter) were attempted repeatedly and each fetch was refused (provenance/permission errors)
Source: Lincoln County Sheriff page · checked 2026-09-18
Transparency rating
1/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✗Who is in custody — not published
- ✗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 built2001, per the county's own site
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- BedsUp to 15 inmates ('designed to hold'), per the county's own site
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Bob Bushman
- Runs the jailYes — the Sheriff's Department books, houses and manages inmates at the Law Enforcement Center jail, per the county's own site
- How the office is filledElected countywide 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: Lincoln County Sheriff 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 Lincoln 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 own Sheriff page names the jail, its address, build year and design capacity — the basis for the 'named' yes check — but does not publish a roster, budget, death, PREA, inspection, contract, bond or fee information within the page opened.
- MN DOC inspection report PDFs for this county could not be opened within this group's fetch budget despite repeated attempts; see state_inspection.
- Lincoln County Board of Commissioners — not confirmed within this group's fetch budget
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Lincoln 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