Cottonwood County Inmate Population
The Cottonwood County inmate population is centered on one local detention facility: Cottonwood County Jail, operated by the Cottonwood County Sheriff's Office. The jail serves local law enforcement in Windom and the rest of Cottonwood County. It is the first custody point for many arrests, short local sentences, court holds, and temporary detention events. Sentenced felony custody is different. A person committed to the Commissioner of Corrections moves into the Minnesota Department of Corrections system and should be searched through the MNDOC Public Viewer, not the county roster.
Official research found no separate Cottonwood County work-release annex, city jail roster, regional jail, state prison, federal detention center, or ICE detention facility inside the county. Windom has a police department, but no separate public city-jail roster was located. That makes the local custody map direct: first check the county jail roster, then call the sheriff's office if the roster is late or unclear, then use state, federal, immigration, and court portals when the custody type has changed.
Cottonwood County Inmate Statistics
The strongest current population source is the Minnesota DOC inspection record for Cottonwood County Jail. The 2024 Cottonwood County Jail inspection report identifies the jail as a local adult detention facility under Minnesota Rule chapter 2911. It lists the approved secure coed bed count, operational capacity, inspection status, and juvenile-hold findings. Local annual booking totals, current average length of stay, and demographic counts were not published in the county pages inspected.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Approved jail capacity | 21 secure coed beds | Minnesota DOC inspection, 2024 |
| Operational capacity | 16.8 beds at 80 percent | Minnesota DOC inspection, 2024 |
| Authority to operate | November 1, 2024 through October 31, 2026 | Minnesota DOC inspection, 2024 |
| Juveniles held or processed | 0 during the monitoring period | Minnesota DOC inspection, 2024 |
Cottonwood County Population Trends
The Cottonwood County inmate population is not published as a full local dashboard. The roster is a current custody report, not a year-end jail census. The research file located one 2022 average daily population and per diem measure in a Minnesota DOC performance-report snippet, but the direct PDF was not extracted for final table use. The 2024 inspection is firmer because it gives the facility capacity, operating authority, and compliance findings from an official facility inspection.
| Year | Population Measure | Use With |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 10.84 ADP noted in DOC performance-report search result | Context only unless the official PDF is extracted |
| 2024 | 21 approved beds and 16.8 operational capacity | Primary capacity source |
| 2025-2026 | No official local ADP dashboard located | Use the roster and jail phone for current custody |
Capacity is not the same as a live head count. A jail can have approved beds while the current roster rises or falls with arrests, releases, transfers, holds, and court orders. For that reason, a Cottonwood County inmate population search should pair the roster with direct jail confirmation when timing matters.
Cottonwood County Jail Standards
Cottonwood County Jail is inspected by the Minnesota Department of Corrections under state correctional-facility authority. The 2024 report found high overall compliance, but it also listed mandatory and essential items needing correction. The report cited well-being checks, lock inspections, sanitation inspections, fire and safety inspection records, formal counts, intake medical-screening content, prescription-medication accounting, and pregnancy-restraint training. Corrective actions were due after the report date.
Public jail data laws: Minn. Stat. Section 13.82 governs law-enforcement data, including arrest data and booking photographs. Minn. Stat. Section 13.85 covers corrections and detention data. Minn. Stat. Section 641.05 requires sheriffs to keep a permanent jail commitment record. Minnesota Rule chapter 2911 sets local adult detention standards.
Search Cottonwood County Inmates
The official Cottonwood County Jail Roster is the starting point for a current county inmate lookup. The county page describes a generated roster rather than a full search portal. It states that roster information is generated daily at 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM Central Time. The accessible page did not expose public search fields, so a user may need to open the roster link and use browser find to scan a name.
- Open the official Cottonwood County jail roster page and follow the current roster link.
- Check the generation time before assuming a recent arrest is missing.
- Use browser find for a last name if the opened roster is a static report.
- Call the Cottonwood County Sheriff's Office at 507-831-1375 when the person may be newly booked or recently released.
- Search MNDOC, MCRO, BOP, or ICE when the person is no longer in county custody or the case type points outside the county jail.
Cottonwood County Roster Fields
The Cottonwood County inmate population roster is not documented as a searchable database with name, booking-number, and date filters. The inspected official page is a roster landing page with a legal disclaimer and a current roster link. That distinction matters because a no-result search is not the same as official proof that a person is not in custody.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jail roster link | Hyperlink/static report | N/A | Current roster opens from the county page. |
| Last Name | Not present as a county field | N/A | Use browser find after opening the roster report. |
| Booking Number | Not present as a search field | N/A | No county booking-number search was located. |
| Buttons | Not present | N/A | No Search, Reset, or Advanced Search button was exposed. |
The county roster disclaimer says inmate information is public data, but also warns that it may be incomplete, out of date, or affected by false identifying information. Pending legal status should be verified through the Minnesota Court System.
Cottonwood County Custody Search
Current county custody is only one slice of the Cottonwood County inmate population. State prison, federal custody, and immigration custody each use a separate locator. The county roster does not replace those systems. A person sentenced to prison may take several business days to appear in the MNDOC Public Viewer. A federal sentenced inmate may appear in the BOP inmate locator. An immigration detainee search uses ICE ODLS, which requires JavaScript.
| System | Who It Covers | Where to Search |
|---|---|---|
| County jail roster | Current Cottonwood County Jail custody | Sheriff jail roster page |
| MNDOC Public Viewer | Adults committed to the Commissioner of Corrections | MNDOC name or six-digit ID search |
| BOP locator | Federal inmates from 1982 to present | Name or register-number search |
| ICE ODLS | Immigration detainee locator searches | A-number/country or biographical search |
Cottonwood County Jail Contacts
The sheriff's official page lists Sheriff Jason Purrington, the office address, the main phone, business hours, and 24/7 dispatch availability. The jail page names Jail Administrator Jason Rupp, Jail Supervisor Daniel Quade, and Jail Program Coordinator Heather Janssen. Police-report and records questions are routed through Pamela Hogan according to the sheriff FAQ.
Cottonwood County Sheriff's Office and Jail
902 5th Avenue
Windom, MN 56101
507-831-1375
Office hours: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Dispatch operates 24/7.
The Cottonwood County Data Practices page provides department data-practices inventories, including the sheriff's department inventory. The sheriff FAQ says many police reports can be released after a proper request, while active investigative or private data may be restricted. Records requests can be emailed to Pamela.Hogan@co.cottonwood.mn.us.
Cottonwood County Roster Sources
The Cottonwood County Sheriff's Office page is the official source for the sheriff's office address, phone, hours, and dispatch note.
The official jail administration page adds visitation, mail, account, phone, and VINE details for people in Cottonwood County Jail.
Cottonwood County Detention Facilities
The facility map resolves to one detention facility in Cottonwood County. All local county-jail custody routes through Cottonwood County Jail unless a person is transferred to a state, federal, immigration, or out-of-county system. The facility page gives the local address, capacity, inspection detail, visitation rules, and inmate-contact procedures.
- Cottonwood County Jail - county jail and local adult detention facility for pretrial detainees, local sentenced inmates, short-term holds, and limited juvenile holds under rural exception rules.
Cottonwood County Inmate FAQ
How big is the Cottonwood County inmate population?
The official facility capacity is 21 approved secure coed beds, with operational capacity calculated at 16.8 beds in the 2024 Minnesota DOC inspection. A live jail head count was not published in the county sources inspected.
How do I search the Cottonwood County inmate population?
Start with the sheriff's jail roster page, then call 507-831-1375 if the roster timing or name match is unclear. Use MNDOC for sentenced state inmates and MCRO for filed court cases.
Does Cottonwood County have a sheriff app?
No official Cottonwood County Sheriff's Office app with roster, warrant, or inmate-search tools was located in the research. Use the official county web pages and phone line instead.
Can I get release alerts?
Yes. The jail page links Minnesota VINE / VINELink for custody information and notifications when an offender is released, transferred, or escapes. The county warns not to rely on VINE alone for protection.
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