Meeker County, Minnesota — The Jail, the Sheriff, the Judges

The Detention Center

Meeker County Jail

Operated byMeeker County Sheriff's Office (by default under Minn. Stat. 387.11/641.14; not independently confirmed on a jail-specific page within this session's budget)
Search-indexed pages (not opened)WebSearch of co.meeker.mn.us / meekercountymn.gov (2 of the 9-search budget) returned page titles for /303/Jail, /305/Inmate-Release-Times, /307/Out-of-County-Housing-Fees, /314/What-to-Bring-When-Reporting-In and /244/Sheriffs-Records — evidence the county's site has jail-related pages, but none of them could actually be opened with WebFetch in this session (every attempt failed with a robots.txt fetch timeout), so no transparency check is scored from them
"Out-of-County Housing Fees" page titleA page titled "Out-of-County Housing Fees" is indexed on the county's site; its content could not be opened, so whether it concerns Meeker inmates boarded elsewhere or other agencies' inmates boarded in Meeker was not established
What was triedWebFetch of https://www.co.meeker.mn.us/303/Jail, https://www.meekercountymn.gov/303/Jail, https://www.meekercountymn.gov/244/Sheriffs-Records, https://www.co.meeker.mn.us/Directory.aspx?did=17, https://www.co.meeker.mn.us/SiteMap and the site root all failed with a robots.txt fetch timeout; https://www.co.meeker.mn.us/directory.aspx?EID=22 and ?EID=56 (staff bios) did succeed

Source: MN DOC Adult Facilities Inspection Reports index (facility name and report years only; the PDF itself could not be opened — see audit.notes) · checked 2026-09-18

Transparency rating

0/10Closed

✗The jail is named — not published
✗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

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Meeker County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked 2026-09-18. Nothing here says the jail is run well or badly. Every mark moves the moment the county posts the document.

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 Brian Cruze

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)
ContactStaff directory lists him as "Sheriff" with contact number 320-693-5400

Still needed

Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail

Source: Meeker County Staff Directory — Brian Cruze · 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 Meeker County)

Not found

Still needed

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

Meeker County's own site was reachable at two staff-directory pages, which is how the sheriff's name was confirmed, but every jail-specific page found by search (Jail, Sheriff's Records, Out-of-County Housing Fees, Inmate Release Times) failed to open (robots.txt fetch timeout) on every attempt this session. All ten checks are scored 'no' for want of evidence actually opened, not as a claim that the county publishes nothing — see jail.facts for exactly what was tried.
The MN DOC's Adult Facilities Inspection Reports index lists a Meeker County Jail with reports dated 2026, 2024, 2022 and 2020; the 2026 PDF could not be opened with WebFetch in this session (refused with a provenance error on repeated attempts).
Not found by name — the only Meeker County pages this session could open were two staff-directory bios (Sheriff, Patrol Sergeant). Minnesota counties are generally governed by an elected Board of County Commissioners.

These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Meeker 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