Wright County

The Detention Center

Wright County Jail

• Operated byWright County Sheriff's Office
• Day-to-day jail administrator named in 2022 DOC reportPatrick O'Malley — an internal role under the elected sheriff, not a separate county department, so jail_administrator is recorded as null
• Licensed capacityA licensed capacity of 288 inmates (secure, coed), per Wright County's own jail page
• Year built2009, per Wright County's own jail page
• PREA policyWright County's own jail page states the jail maintains "a Policy of zero tolerance with regard to sexual abuse and sexual harassment" and undergoes "a PREA audit every 3 years" — this is a statement of policy and audit cadence, not published audit results, so the prea transparency check below is recorded as not met
• Pay-for-stay fee scheduleWright County's own FAQ page states Wright County charges "$20 a day for inmate stays" plus a $25 booking fee and medical cost reimbursement, with unpaid balances sent to a billing company and then potentially to collections; this is a cost-recovery fee schedule for confinement itself, not the phone/video-visit/commissary rate schedule the fees check asks about, so it is recorded as a fact here rather than counted toward that check
• Roster resources namedThe county's own jail page states that a "Jail Media Report" (recent bookings), a "Jail Census" (current inmates), and weekly booking data are available, and points to the "MobilePatrol"/"Appriss" app for real-time detention information
• Also sourced toWright County, MN — FAQ, "What is Pay-for-Stay?" — https://co.wright.mn.us/FAQ.aspx?QID=99
• Also sourced toMN DOC — Wright County Jail Facility Inspection Report (2022 inspection) — https://mn.gov/doc/assets/Wright%20County%20Jail_2022_tcm1089-541842.pdf

Source: Wright County, MN — Jail · checked 2026-09-18

• ✓The jail is named
• ✓Who is in custody
• ✓Beds and daily population
• ✗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 Wright 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 built2009
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byNot found
• Beds288 (secure, coed)

The Sheriff

Sheriff Sean Deringer

• Runs the jailYes — the elected sheriff, per Minn. Stat. 387.11 and 641.14
• How the office is filledElected to a four-year term (Minn. Stat. 382.01)
• Source of name and currencyNamed as sheriff in the MN DOC's inspection report for the facility's September 21, 2022 inspection; Wright County's own jail page (co.wright.mn.us/237/Jail) was reachable but did not itself name the sheriff, so his currency as of September 2026 could not be independently confirmed from the county's own site within the search budget

Source: MN DOC — Wright County Jail Facility Inspection Report, issued for the September 21, 2022 inspection · checked 2026-09-18

The Judges

Minnesota district judges run in nonpartisan elections to six-year terms, but a large share first reach the bench by gubernatorial appointment to a mid-term vacancy rather than a contested race (river_states.json, MN, judges_elected). Bail at first appearance is set by "the court" under Minn. R. Crim. P. 6.02.

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