The Detention Center
Waseca County Jail
- Operated byWaseca County Sheriff's Office
- Jail administrator (staff title, not a separate county department)Dan Mocol, named in the MN DOC's 2025 inspection report; the county's own site could not be opened to confirm whether detention is described as a separate department, so jail_administrator is recorded null per the sheriff-is-jailer default
- CapacityMN DOC's 2025 inspection report lists an approved capacity of 24 beds, 80% operational capacity (about 19 beds)
- Public jail rosterA "Waseca County Jail Roster" document is linked from the county's own site (https://www.co.waseca.mn.us/DocumentCenter/View/132/Waseca-County-Jail-Roster), found via the domain-scoped search, but WebFetch of it was refused within this session (robots.txt fetch failed/timeout) — see what-was-tried
- What was triedWebSearch allowed_domains=co.waseca.mn.us (1 of 7-search budget) found the Sheriff's Office index, a jail roster document, and an FAQ page. Only the FAQ page (https://www.co.waseca.mn.us/270/FAQs) could be opened; the Sheriff's Office index (https://www.co.waseca.mn.us/index.aspx?nid=132, tried three times), the jail roster document, and the staff directory entry (directory.aspx?EID=46) were all refused (403 errors or robots.txt timeouts)
- Also sourced toMN DOC Adult Facilities Inspection Report — Waseca County Jail, April 2, 2025 — https://mn.gov/doc/assets/Waseca%20Final%20Inspection%20Report%202025_tcm1089-683511.pdf
Source: Waseca County FAQs · 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
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year builtNot found
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds24 (approved capacity, 80% operational = 19) per the MN DOC's 2025 inspection report
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Jay Dulas
- Runs the jailYes — 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)
- SourceNamed as sheriff in the MN DOC's 2025 inspection report of the Waseca County Jail; the county's own Sheriff's Office index page (co.waseca.mn.us/index.aspx?nid=132) returned a 403 error on every WebFetch attempt within this session
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: MN DOC Adult Facilities Inspection Report — Waseca County Jail, April 2, 2025 · 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 Waseca 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 only Waseca County page reachable within this session was its general FAQ page, which mentions the Sheriff's Office only in the context of handgun-permit applications and does not name, describe, or link the jail, a roster, budget, PREA, inspection, contract, bail, or fee information. Per the rules, this is recorded as ten genuine 'no' answers based on what was actually opened, not as an unexamined county — the site was reached, just not its jail-specific pages.
- The domain-scoped search located a Sheriff's Office page and a jail roster document on the county's own site, but every attempt to open either was refused (403 error or robots.txt timeout) within this session.
- Not found — Waseca County's directory and sitemap pages were refused by WebFetch within this session (403 errors / robots.txt timeouts). Minnesota counties are generally governed by an elected Board of County Commissioners.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Waseca 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