Beltrami County Inmate Population
The Beltrami County inmate population is centered at the Beltrami County Adult Correction Center, the local jail operated by the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office under Sheriff Jason Riggs. The jail is also called the Beltrami County Jail in Minnesota Department of Corrections inspection records. It holds adults who are waiting for court, people who have not yet been sentenced, local sentenced inmates, and holds for other agencies. The county roster covers this local jail population. It does not cover a person after transfer to a Minnesota prison, a federal Bureau of Prisons facility, or immigration detention.
Beltrami County's jail population is shaped by arrests, court schedules, bond decisions, holds, sentence length, and transfers. The county's research materials also show a real facility issue: the current jail opened in 1989, received a DOC deficiency notice in 2019, and is being replaced by a new Adult Corrections Center project at 815 Pioneer Street SE. Until county material verifies a move, the public jail address remains 626 Minnesota Ave. NW in Bemidji.
Beltrami County Inmate Statistics
The best current Beltrami County inmate population figures come from MNDOC inspection reports, the FY25 MNDOC performance table, and county jail-replacement materials. The inspection reports are the strongest source for physical jail capacity. The FY25 performance table is useful for average daily population, spending, and per diem, but it lists a different approved-capacity figure than the inspection reports. That conflict should be read as a source difference, not as proof that the inspected jail capacity changed.
| Measure | Figure | Source and Date |
|---|---|---|
| Average daily population | 70.00 | MNDOC FY25 Performance Report |
| Inspection capacity | Secure Coed approved capacity 80, operational capacity 72 | MNDOC 2025 inspection, authority 06/01/2025 to 05/31/2026 |
| Juvenile hold authority | No juvenile hold authority; zero juveniles processed in review period | MNDOC 2026 inspection, completed 05/22/2026 |
| Annual booking range before the pandemic | About 2,900 to 3,100 arrestee bookings per year | Beltrami detention-center needs assessment |
| Nonresident share | About 40% of the jail population on average | County jail replacement fact sheet, 2023 |
Beltrami County Jail Population Trends
Beltrami County inmate population trends show why the new jail project became a county priority. The county fact sheet says the jail opened with capacity for 81 inmates, then increased capacity through double bunking and a later remodel. More recent DOC regulation changes, more violent offenders, and staffing pressure reduced maximum capacity to 80 in 2023. The needs assessment found that bookings dropped after the first COVID wave, but average length of stay grew, so the number of people for whom Beltrami was responsible stayed under pressure.
| Period | Population or Capacity Note | Source Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Jail opened with capacity 81 | County jail replacement fact sheet |
| 2001 | Capacity increased to 106 through double bunking | County fact sheet |
| 2023 | Maximum capacity reduced to 80 | County fact sheet |
| FY25 | Average daily population listed as 70 | MNDOC FY25 Performance Report |
| 2025 inspection | Approved capacity 80 and operational capacity 72 | MNDOC annual inspection |
The county's 2024 groundbreaking release ties the replacement project to safety, staff and inmate wellbeing, reduced boarding in other counties, and programming that is meant to lower recidivism. Those are population issues as much as building issues because a jail with limited recreation, intake, visiting, and program space can change how people move through custody.
Beltrami County Custody Makeup
The Beltrami County inmate population is mostly a local adult jail population. The needs assessment says local jails mainly hold people awaiting disposition, which means they have not yet had a final case outcome. Beltrami also holds sentenced local inmates and people held for another jurisdiction. The 2026 MNDOC inspection found no juvenile hold authority, so the local adult jail should not be described as a juvenile detention center.
- Pretrial or presentenced
- A person is held before the case is resolved or before sentence is imposed.
- Hold or detainer
- Another court, DOC office, county, federal agency, or immigration authority asks the jail to keep or notify before release.
- Average daily population
- The mean number of people held per day during the reporting period.
- Operational capacity
- The working capacity used by inspectors after staffing, classification, and housing limits are considered.
Local demographics were not published as a live dashboard in the official sources reviewed. The county did publish useful operational context. About 40 percent of the population were not Beltrami County residents on average, and needs-assessment material identified drugs, alcohol, mental health, and housing instability as major local custody factors. Those findings should not be converted into a current race, age, or sex breakdown because the research did not provide one.
Beltrami County Jail Capacity
The Beltrami County jail-capacity story has two numbers that readers often mix up. The 2024 and 2025 inspection reports list Secure Coed approved capacity 80 and operational capacity 72. The FY25 performance report separately lists ADP 70 and an approved capacity field of 132 in a per-diem table. Because the inspection reports are facility-specific operating records, they should carry the capacity discussion. The FY25 table remains relevant for ADP and cost context.
The current jail's physical problems are concrete. The 2024 inspection noted intake storage that did not fit annual booking volume, recreation and visiting spaces that were too small for active use and population needs, a decentralized program layout that increased movement and staff time, and ligature-point concerns in some bunks and showers. The existing-jail page says the county is still studying reuse options for the 626 Minnesota Ave. NW building after the replacement jail comes online.
Beltrami County's existing-jail page shows the current jail and new jail project context together. The new project is important for inmate population readers because out-of-county housing, longer stays, and program limits can affect where someone is held.
Beltrami County Inmate Record Laws
Minnesota law explains why jail booking data, custody records, and some booking photos are public while other details remain limited. Beltrami County jail records are affected by general law-enforcement data rules, corrections and detention data rules, the sheriff's duty to keep a permanent jail record, and MNDOC licensing authority over local jails. These laws do not make every field public in real time, but they do create the public-record framework behind the roster, records requests, and inspection reports.
Key Minnesota laws:
Minn. Stat. 13.82 governs law-enforcement data and makes booking photographs public unless temporary withholding is needed for an active investigation.
Minn. Stat. 13.85 defines corrections and detention data for jails, prisons, workhouses, and other detention facilities.
Minn. Stat. 641.05 requires the sheriff to keep a permanent record of each person committed to jail.
Minn. R. 2911 sets Minnesota local adult detention standards for admission, classification, staffing, records, welfare, and inspection.
Search Beltrami County Inmates
The fastest way to search the Beltrami County inmate population is the official ProPhoenix Beltrami County Inmate Locator. It is branded for the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office and covers current county-jail custody at the Adult Correction Center. Use it for recent arrests, current holds, local sentences, bail or fine fields, court-date fields, charges, and booking-photo links. If the arrest is very recent, call the jail at 218-333-4189 because official sources did not publish the exact roster update time.
- Open the Beltrami County Inmate Locator and start with a last name.
- Add a first name, gender, or birth year only if the first search returns too many records.
- Open the inmate detail area to review booking status, charges, custody date, bail or fine, holds, court date, and image link if one is present.
- If no result appears, retry with fewer fields and then call the jail or Records Division.
- If the person was sentenced to prison, switch to the MNDOC Locator instead of the county roster.
The sheriff page lists Jason Riggs as the local sheriff in the source set and gives the jail phone and records channels used for roster fallback. The Beltrami County Sheriff's Office page is also the source for the Law Enforcement Center, Records Division, dispatch, and jail phone contacts.
Beltrami County Roster Fields
The county roster search form is simple, but the inmate detail fields are much richer. The search form supports name and basic demographic filters. The detail area can show identifiers, physical descriptors, custody status, charges, holds, bail fields, court information, release eligibility, cell location, visitor information, and the booking-photo area. The county's official archived custody list also confirms public columns for photo, MNI, sex, age, booking number, intake date, and charge lines.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Name | Text | Unspecified | Best first search field for a current Beltrami County jail roster lookup. |
| First Name | Text | Unspecified | Use to narrow a common last name. |
| Gender | Radio | Optional or unspecified | Visible options are Unknown, Male, and Female. |
| DOB (yyyy) | Text | Unspecified | Birth year format is shown as four digits. |
| Search and Clear | Buttons | Not applicable | Search runs the query, and Clear resets the fields. |
Beltrami County Inmate Records
A Beltrami County inmate record should be read as a custody record, not as proof of guilt. Booking charges are allegations or holds recorded at intake. Formal court charges may change after the Beltrami County Attorney reviews the case and files a complaint in District Court. For records after charges are filed, use Beltrami County court records after jail arrest and MCRO.
| Roster Field | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Booking Number or MNI | Local jail or person identifier used to track the booking record. |
| Custody Date | Date and time the person entered jail custody. |
| Charges | Statute, severity, court status, and charge text when shown. |
| Bail or Fine | Public bail or fine field that must still be verified with the jail or court. |
| Holds | Other agency, DOC, warrant, or detainer information if entered. |
| Click to View Image | Booking photo area when an image is available in the inmate detail record. |
Past Beltrami County Inmate Records
Official Beltrami sources did not publish how long released inmates stay visible on the live roster. For a person no longer listed, use the Sheriff's Records Division rather than assuming there is no record. The Records Office page says the division processes crime and arrest records, traffic accident reports, citations, and related documents. Walk-in service is available during posted business hours, and records staff can explain the current route for booking records or reports not shown online.
Past custody can split across systems. A local booking may stay with the sheriff, the filed case may appear in MCRO, a public conviction may appear in the BCA criminal-history system, and a sentenced prison term may appear in the MNDOC Locator. Federal or immigration custody has separate lookup tools. Do not rely on one roster search to prove the whole custody history.
Beltrami County Jail vs Prison
The Beltrami County inmate population is not the same as the Minnesota prison population. The county jail is a local pretrial and short-sentence facility. State prison custody begins after commitment to the Commissioner of Corrections, and MNDOC says newly sentenced people may take several business days to display in its locator. No MNDOC adult prison is listed in Beltrami County, so a sentenced person from Beltrami may be assigned elsewhere in the state system.
| Question | Beltrami County Jail | Minnesota DOC |
|---|---|---|
| Who is covered | Adult pretrial, presentenced, local sentenced, and hold inmates | Adults committed to the Commissioner of Corrections or under DOC supervision |
| Operator | Beltrami County Sheriff's Office | Minnesota Department of Corrections |
| Lookup | Beltrami County Inmate Locator | MNDOC Locator |
| Timing | Used for current county custody | May take several business days after sentencing to display |
Beltrami County Custody Fallbacks
When the county roster does not show the person, use the fallback chain that matches the custody stage. Minnesota VINE is available for custody and criminal-case notification registration. The Minnesota VINE portal is useful when a victim, family member, or public user needs notice of custody changes. VINE is a notification path, not a replacement for the official jail roster or court file.
Federal and immigration custody are separate. The BOP Inmate Locator covers federal inmates from 1982 to present. The U.S. Marshals District of Minnesota includes Beltrami County for federal pretrial matters, although no Beltrami-USMS contract was found in the local sources reviewed. ICE ODLS is the immigration-custody lookup, and official research found no ICE detention facility in Beltrami County. No official Beltrami sheriff or Bemidji police app with an inmate roster or warrant search was located.
Beltrami County Detention Facility
Beltrami County has one local facility page in the resolved facility map. The Adult Correction Center is the county-jail facility for current local custody. State, federal, and immigration lookups are still important, but they are not separate physical detention facilities in Beltrami County based on the research file.
- Beltrami County Adult Correction Center - Minnesota Class III county jail for adult pretrial detainees, presentenced detainees, local sentenced inmates, and holds for other agencies.
Beltrami County Inmate FAQ
How large is the Beltrami County inmate population?
The FY25 MNDOC performance table lists an average daily population of 70.00. The 2025 inspection lists Secure Coed approved capacity 80 and operational capacity 72. Use both with care because the FY25 table has a separate capacity field that conflicts with the inspection reports.
How do I search for Beltrami County inmates?
Use the official Beltrami County Inmate Locator for current county-jail custody. Search by last name first, then add first name, gender, or birth year if needed. Call the jail at 218-333-4189 if the arrest is too recent to appear.
Where are Beltrami County booking photos?
The inmate locator has an inmate-detail area with a Click to View Image label, and the official archived list includes a Photo column. For more on photos and public access, use the Beltrami County jail mugshots page.
Who is the Beltrami County sheriff?
The research file identifies Jason Riggs as the current Beltrami County sheriff. The Sheriff's Office operates the jail, Records Division, dispatch, patrol, civil process, court security, and public-safety services tied to inmate and arrest records.