The Detention Center
None confirmed — no MN DOC Adult Facilities Inspection Report is published for a Mahnomen County facility
- Operated byNot established
- Staff titles on the county's own siteThe Sheriff's Office page lists among its staff "1 Jail Administrator, 5 Dispatcher/Jailers, 1 Part-Time Dispatcher/Jailer," indicating the office holds people at least briefly, but the page gives no facility name, address, capacity, or roster, and Mahnomen does not appear in the MN DOC's Adult Facilities Inspection Reports index
- No DOC-licensed facility foundMahnomen County does not appear in the MN DOC's Adult Facilities Inspection Reports index, which does list Marshall, Martin, McLeod, Meeker, Mille Lacs and Morrison County Jails
- Where longer-term prisoners are heldNot established from sources opened within this session's search/fetch budget — no source confirming a boarding or regional-jail arrangement for Mahnomen County was located
- Tribal jurisdiction noteMahnomen County lies substantially within the White Earth Reservation. Neither the county's own site nor the White Earth Nation's site published, within this session's search/fetch budget, what detention function the Band separately operates. This is not characterized as a gap or failure on the county's part — it reflects the jurisdictional split required by law.
- What was triedWebFetch of https://www.mahnomencounty.gov/department/departments_i_z/sheriff/index.php (opened) and https://co.mahnomen.mn.us/department/county_directory.php (redirected to https://www.mahnomencounty.gov/department/county_directory.php, opened but lists only department links, no jail facility page); no dedicated jail/detention page for Mahnomen County was found via WebSearch allowed_domains=mahnomencounty.gov,co.mahnomen.mn.us within this session's budget
- Also sourced toMahnomen County Sheriff's Office — https://www.mahnomencounty.gov/department/departments_i_z/sheriff/index.php
Source: MN DOC Adult Facilities Inspection Reports index (checked for a Mahnomen entry) · checked 2026-09-18
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year builtNot found
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- BedsNot found
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Josh Guenther
- Runs the jailYes, if the county operates one — the elected sheriff has charge and custody of the county jail under Minn. Stat. 387.11 and is responsible for its operation and condition under Minn. Stat. 641.14 (MN state layer)
- How the office is filledElected countywide to a four-year term under Minn. Stat. 382.01 (MN state layer)
- Contact311 North Main Street, P.O. Box 440, Mahnomen, MN 56557; 218-935-2255; josh.guenther@mahnomencounty.gov
- CoverageThe office states it serves 16 townships and multiple municipalities across approximately 576 square miles with a staff of approximately 35 personnel
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Mahnomen County Sheriff's Office · 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 Mahnomen 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
- Mahnomen County's own site (mahnomencounty.gov) was successfully opened this session — the Sheriff's Office page and the department directory — so these are scored 'no' for want of evidence on the pages actually reached, not left blank. No dedicated jail/detention page, roster, fee schedule, capacity figure, budget, death report, PREA result, inspection result, contract, or bond-info page was found on those pages.
- Mahnomen County lies substantially within the White Earth Reservation; see the jail.facts tribal jurisdiction note.
- The Sheriff's Office page's own staffing list (Jail Administrator, Dispatcher/Jailers) suggests the office processes and may briefly hold people, but this is not itself an operating, DOC-licensed jail on the public record found.
- Not found by name — Mahnomen County's site was reached (Sheriff's Office and department directory pages), but no commissioners board page was found within this session's budget. Minnesota counties are generally governed by an elected Board of County Commissioners.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Mahnomen 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