The Winona County Inmate Population
The Winona County inmate population is reported through several official sources rather than one live dashboard. The local custody facility is the Winona County Detention Center, also called WCDC or the Winona County Jail. It is run by the Winona County Sheriff's Office and holds adult pretrial detainees, county-sentenced inmates, boarders for other agencies, and people held on warrants or supervision violations. The official roster PDF inspected during research showed current custody records only, so it is a point-in-time roster rather than a long-term population report.
That distinction matters in Winona County. A jail population count can change when new arrests arrive, when bond is posted, when a court orders release, or when a sentenced person transfers to the Minnesota Department of Corrections. The Winona County inmate population can also include a person held for another county, the Minnesota DOC, or the United States Marshals. Once a person moves into state prison, the county roster stops being the main search tool and the Minnesota DOC locator becomes the better source.
Winona County Inmate Population Statistics
Winona County publishes a public jail page, a sheriff roster PDF, and inspection records through the Minnesota DOC. The county page describes the new jail as a facility with 53 cells and 80 beds. The DOC inspection records use licensing language instead: designed capacity, approved capacity, and operational capacity. Use the DOC numbers when discussing regulatory capacity and the county page when describing the building as presented to the public.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Public building capacity | 53 cells / 80 beds | Winona County jail page, inspected June 2026 |
| Designed capacity | 86 | MNDOC 2025 inspection |
| Approved capacity | 74 | MNDOC 2025 inspection |
| Operational capacity | 70.3 beds | MNDOC 2025 inspection |
| Current roster count | 17 records | Sheriff roster PDF, printed June 18, 2026 |
| Historical adult bookings | 1,447 | WCDC programs PDF, FY2008 |
Current average daily population, current annual bookings, and current demographic summaries were not found in the official sources reviewed. The roster count is useful, but it is not an average daily population figure. It shows who was listed when the sheriff PDF was printed.
Winona County Jail Population Trends
The clearest Winona County trend is not a multi-year inmate-count series. It is the jail replacement and inspection path. A 2022 DOC inspection described the old jail's physical plant problems, including poor sight lines, poor lighting, aged infrastructure, lack of program and recreation space, and undersized booking and visitation areas. The county later reported that the new jail opened in December 2023 after the prior jail had been shut down in 2018.
| Year / Date | Capacity or Population Marker | Note |
|---|---|---|
| FY2008 | 1,447 adult bookings | Historical WCDC programs material, not current operations. |
| 2022 inspection | Approved capacity 83 | Old facility under construction-related transition. |
| December 2023 | New jail opened | County release described a new $28 million jail. |
| June 2024 inspection | Approved capacity 74 | New facility under DOC inspection after opening. |
| December 2025 inspection | Approved capacity 74 | Compliance improved and biennial inspections were expected. |
| June 18, 2026 roster | 17 records | Point-in-time sheriff roster count. |
Who Makes Up Winona County Jail Custody
Official current demographic dashboards were not located for Winona County jail custody. The June 18, 2026 roster did show a mixed custody population through its charge and hold text. Records included local charges, bench warrants, treatment court holds, Fillmore County boarder language, Minnesota DOC holds, and a United States Marshals hold. That means a Winona County inmate lookup may find people whose main case or agency is not Winona County, even though they are physically held at WCDC.
- Adult pretrial custody: People booked after arrest or warrant service and held before case resolution.
- County-sentenced custody: People serving local jail time rather than prison time.
- Agency holds: Records can show DOC, U.S. Marshals, treatment court, or other-county holds.
- Work release eligibility: Court-ordered Huber/work release may apply only after jail approval and rule compliance.
Older FY2008 WCDC materials gave historical demographic figures: 81 percent male and 19 percent female, with race and ethnicity categories also listed. Those figures should be treated as history only. They do not describe the current Winona County inmate population.
Winona County Jail Capacity
Capacity is one of the most important Winona County inmate population facts because the public county page and DOC inspection records use different measures. The county jail page says the new WCDC has 53 cells and 80 beds. The 2025 DOC inspection lists designed capacity of 86, approved capacity of 74, and operational capacity of 70.3 beds. The 17-record roster count from June 18, 2026 was below the approved capacity, but one roster printout cannot prove long-term utilization or crowding.
The new jail context is still central. The county's public release says the new facility includes rehabilitation and transitional program spaces, a medical unit, kitchen, laundry, and enhanced security. DOC reports show improvement after opening: the 2024 inspection found several compliance issues, while the December 2025 inspection reported 127 of 128 mandatory rules and 110 of 111 essential rules in compliance.
Laws Governing Winona County Jail Data
Minnesota law controls both access to jail records and jail operations. The public roster is a sheriff record, court records move through the Minnesota Judicial Branch, and facility capacity is inspected under DOC authority. When a record is not online, the county's Data Practices Policy for Members of the Public is the local request path.
Key Statutes:
Minnesota Statutes chapter 13 sets the public-data framework and presumes government data are public unless a law classifies them otherwise.
Minnesota Statutes section 13.82 governs law enforcement data, including arrest data and booking-photo access.
Minnesota Statutes section 241.021 gives the corrections commissioner inspection, licensing, reporting, and death-in-custody oversight duties.
Minnesota Rules chapter 2911 sets local adult detention standards for admissions, checks, medical screening, storage, training, and operation.
Search the Winona County Inmate Population
The official county jail lookup is the Winona County Sheriff's Office inmate roster PDF. It is not an interactive portal. The report is opened as a PDF, then searched with the browser or PDF viewer find tool. The roster inspected during research had a print date and repeated fields for each custody record. It did not show mugshots in the extracted text and did not provide profile pages.
- Open the official sheriff roster PDF from the jail page or direct report URL.
- Check the printed date before relying on the custody list.
- Use PDF find for the last name, or search a partial last name if spelling may vary.
- Read the name, age, arrest time, bond amount, and next court date fields.
- Review the charge, warrant, boarder, sentenced, or hold text below the header.
- If the person is missing, call WCDC or use a written data request.
Winona County Roster Search Fields
The Winona County roster has no search boxes, filters, reset buttons, or login screen. It is a static public report. The search method is the PDF viewer's find function, so the practical field is any text that appears inside the report.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | PDF text/list field | n/a | Shown as last name, first name. |
| Age | PDF text/list field | n/a | Numeric age; date of birth was not shown in inspected text. |
| Arrest Time | PDF text/list field | n/a | Observed format was MM/DD/YY HH:MM. |
| Bond Amount | PDF text/list field | n/a | May show bail amount, conditional bond, unconditional, hold, or sentenced text. |
| Next Court Date | PDF text/list field | n/a | Displayed for some entries and blank for others. |
| Charges / Holds | PDF body text | n/a | Includes statute numbers, charge text, warrant notes, and agency holds. |
What Winona County Inmate Records Show
A Winona County inmate record on the roster is lean. It gives custody and court clues, not a full case file. Readers should expect to see the current jail-facing status first, then use MCRO for court records after charges are filed. If a case has a hold, a bond amount on one charge may not mean the person can leave custody.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Name | Current inmate name, listed last name first. |
| Age | Age only, not date of birth. |
| Arrest Time | Jail entry or arrest time as shown in the PDF. |
| Bond Amount | Bail or bond label and amount when available, plus hold or sentenced text. |
| Next Court Date | Next listed hearing date when the roster has one. |
| Charge Text | Statute number, offense description, warrant language, or agency hold. |
| Omissions | No booking number, DOB, physical description, housing unit, or mugshot was found in extracted roster text. |
State and Federal Inmate Lookup
Winona County has no state prison, BOP prison, ICE detention center, or separate regional jail in the official sources reviewed. A person arrested in Winona County may still leave the county system. State prisoners are searched through the Minnesota DOC locator after commitment to the Commissioner of Corrections. Federal inmates from 1982 forward are searched through the BOP inmate locator. Immigration detainees are searched through the ICE Online Detainee Locator System.
| Custody Type | Where to Look | What It Covers |
|---|---|---|
| County jail | Winona County sheriff roster PDF | Current WCDC custody and local holds. |
| State prison | Minnesota DOC locator | Adults committed to DOC and still under jurisdiction. |
| Federal prison | BOP inmate locator | Federal inmates from 1982 to present. |
| Immigration custody | ICE ODLS | ICE detainee search by A-Number/country or biographical data. |
| Notifications | VINELink / Minnesota Haven | Custody-status notification, not a full court file. |
Winona County Detention Facilities
The facility map resolves to one local detention facility. The Winona County Detention Center is the county jail and the primary place to check for current local custody. No separate state prison, federal prison, ICE detention center, or regional jail was found inside Winona County in the official research sources.
- Winona County Detention Center - secure coed county jail for adult pretrial detainees, county-sentenced inmates, boarders, agency holds, and limited rural-exception juvenile holds.
The official jail page shows the detention center, staff contacts, and jail navigation links.
The county page supports the facility details used for the local Winona County inmate population discussion, while the roster and DOC records fill in custody and capacity details.
Winona County Custody Terms
The roster uses short labels that can affect release and search results. These terms are not all the same.
- Hold
- Another agency, court, or sentence blocks release even if one bond amount appears.
- Boarder
- A person held for another county or agency at WCDC.
- Conditional bond
- Release requires money or security plus court-ordered conditions.
- DOC
- Minnesota Department of Corrections, the state prison and supervision agency.
- MCRO
- Minnesota Court Records Online, the statewide court case search portal.
Winona County Inmate Population FAQ
How big is the Winona County inmate population?
The researched roster PDF showed 17 total records on June 18, 2026. That is a current roster count, not an average daily population. DOC capacity records list approved capacity at 74 and operational capacity at 70.3 beds for the 2025 inspection.
Does Winona County have an online inmate search form?
No interactive search form was found. The official sheriff roster is a PDF, so users search inside the report with PDF find by name or other visible text.
Where are sentenced state prisoners listed?
Sentenced adults committed to the Commissioner of Corrections are searched in the Minnesota DOC public locator. Newly sentenced people may take several business days to appear.
Can released inmate records be searched online?
The official roster is current-inmate oriented, and no official release-retention rule was found. For older booking records, use the Winona County data-practices request path.