Carlton County Inmate Population
The Carlton County inmate population is not one single list. The local jail count belongs to the Carlton County Jail, which is run by the Carlton County Sheriff's Office inside the Justice Center. That jail holds recent arrestees, people waiting for court, local sentenced inmates, probation or warrant holds, and agency holds accepted by the jail. The public roster is the current county custody source, but it is a PDF roster rather than a searchable database.
Two Moose Lake facilities add important local context. Minnesota Correctional Facility - Moose Lake is a Minnesota Department of Corrections prison for sentenced adult men. The Minnesota Sex Offender Program campus in Moose Lake is a secure civil-commitment treatment setting, not a jail booking site. A person can move from arrest to jail, from court to prison, or from a criminal case into a civil process, so the correct lookup path depends on the legal status.
Carlton County Inmate Statistics
Official sources give firm capacity figures for the jail and separate population or bed figures for the Moose Lake facilities. The 2025 Minnesota DOC inspection lists Carlton County Jail as a Class III jail with 96 approved secure coed beds and an operational capacity of 91.20 beds at 95 percent. The DOC daily profile report located during research found 1,039 adult offenders on-site at MCF-Moose Lake in June 2026. MSOP's overview lists 558 licensed Moose Lake beds across its Main and Complex One buildings.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Date |
|---|---|---|
| Carlton County Jail approved capacity | 96 secure coed beds | Minnesota DOC Carlton County Jail Inspection Report, 2025 |
| Carlton County Jail operational capacity | 91.20 beds | Minnesota DOC Carlton County Jail Inspection Report, 2025 |
| MCF-Moose Lake on-site population | 1,039 adult offenders | DOC Daily Inmate Profile Report, located June 2026 |
| MSOP Moose Lake licensed beds | 158 Main plus 400 Complex One | Minnesota Direct Care and Treatment MSOP overview |
Carlton County Jail Capacity Trends
Carlton County's clearest population trend is a capacity shift tied to the new Justice Center. A 2022 DOC inspection listed the old jail at 48 approved secure coed beds, with 38.40 operational beds at 80 percent. Local opening reports in 2024 described a 96-bed Justice Center jail that doubled the prior capacity. The 2025 DOC inspection then confirmed 96 approved beds and 91.20 operational beds. No official daily average population dashboard, annual booking total, or current overcrowding order was located in the county and DOC materials reviewed.
| Year / Source | Capacity or Count | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 DOC inspection | 48 approved beds | Old jail capacity before the new Justice Center |
| 2024 opening reports | 96 total jail beds | New building described as doubling jail capacity |
| 2025 DOC inspection | 96 approved beds, 91.20 operational | Current official jail capacity figure |
| June 2026 DOC profile | 1,039 MCF-Moose Lake offenders | State prison count, not the county jail population |
Carlton County Inmate Makeup
The current Carlton County roster publishes person-level data instead of a demographic summary. Public entries show name, race, age, arresting agency, charges or held-for basis, next court date, outdate when present, and 10 percent bail amount when listed. Race values in current excerpts include White, Black or African American, and American Indian or Alaska Native. The roster does not publish a public housing-unit count, a sex split, a felony and misdemeanor summary, or a pretrial and sentenced breakdown.
Agency mix matters in Carlton County. Roster entries can involve the Sheriff's Office, Fond du Lac Police, Arrowhead Regional Probation, Minnesota DOC, another county, or a different holding agency. That means the Carlton County inmate population may include people arrested locally, people held on warrants, people held for probation or DOC, and people being held for another agency. The public reader should use the arresting agency and held-for line before assuming why the person is in custody.
Population reading tip: Do not add MCF-Moose Lake prisoners or MSOP clients to the Carlton County Jail count. They are separate custody systems.
Laws for Carlton County Inmate Data
Minnesota law explains why some Carlton County inmate data is public and why some details are withheld. The Minnesota Government Data Practices Act starts with a public-access rule unless another law makes data not public. Minnesota Statutes section 13.82 covers law-enforcement data, including arrest data and booking photographs, while allowing temporary withholding when release would harm an active investigation. Minnesota Rules chapter 2911 sets local adult detention facility standards.
Key Statutes:
Minn. Stat. section 241.021 gives the Commissioner of Corrections inspection and licensing authority over correctional facilities.
Minn. Stat. section 390.11 makes deaths of inmates in public institutions and law-enforcement custody reportable deaths.
Minn. Stat. section 13.87 governs criminal history data and supports public BCA conviction-history access.
Carlton County State Prison Population
Sentenced prison custody is a state record path. After a Carlton County defendant is convicted and sentenced to prison, the person is committed to the Commissioner of Corrections and may be transferred out of the jail. At that point, the Minnesota DOC Locator is the public lookup tool. It searches by name or six-digit MNDOC Offender ID and covers adults under DOC jurisdiction, including prisoners and some people on release supervision.
MCF-Moose Lake is physically in Carlton County, but it does not hold new county arrestees waiting for a first court date. It is a Level 3 Medium state prison for sentenced adult men. The MSOP Moose Lake campus is also local, but civil commitment is different from a criminal jail sentence. Clear labels prevent a common error: a Moose Lake location does not automatically mean the person is on the Carlton County jail roster.
Search Carlton County Inmate Population
The primary jail search path starts at the Carlton County Jail Roster page, then opens the current roster PDF. The county states that the roster updates every hour and that intake detainees may not appear until they receive a booking number. That warning is central. A very recent arrest may be in the jail but still absent from the public roster.
The PDF has no portal search form, filters, or dropdowns. Browser or PDF find is the practical search tool. Search by last name first, then try partial spelling, first name, booking number, arresting agency, or statute text. If the person has been sentenced to prison, transferred to federal custody, or released, the correct search may move away from the Carlton County roster.
- Open the county jail roster page and select the link for the most recent roster PDF.
- Use browser or PDF find to search by last name, first name, booking number, agency, or charge text.
- Confirm the booking number, arresting agency, held-for line, and next court date or warrant status.
- If the person was just arrested and does not appear, call the jail information line before assuming release.
- For a prison sentence, use the Minnesota DOC Locator rather than the county roster.
Carlton County Roster Lookup
The Carlton roster is free and does not require a login. It can be saved or printed as a PDF through the browser. The roster header includes mugshot, demographics, arresting agency, charges, next court date, outdate, and 10 percent bail amount. The county roster should be treated as a current custody snapshot, not a complete court case file or lifetime criminal history record.
The county roster page explains the hourly update and intake delay, and the direct PDF is hosted at the current roster URL. The screenshot captured from that county page shows the public notice that a person in intake may not be listed yet.
That notice is why the roster, the jail phone line, and the records-request process work together rather than as competing channels.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| View the most recent Jail Roster | PDF link | No | Opens the current roster; no database fields or filters were found. |
| Browser or PDF find | Text search | No | Use Ctrl+F or mobile PDF search after the roster opens. |
| Name or booking number | Search term | No | Search last name first, then try first name, partial spelling, agency, or statute text. |
Past Carlton County Inmate Records
A released person may no longer appear on the current Carlton County jail roster. The county materials inspected did not publish a historical roster archive, daily booking archive, or past-inmate search portal. For older booking information, use the Carlton County Data Request Form and route the request to the Sheriff's Office. The Sheriff's Services page says public information requests can be made in person or in writing, and individual requests should include the full name and date of birth.
Formal court records follow a different route. After charges are filed, Minnesota Court Records Online and the Justice Center public access computer are the case-record channels. Conviction history is another separate source: the Minnesota BCA Public Criminal History Search covers public conviction data and excludes fresh arrests, juvenile records, federal or out-of-state records, and conviction data after the public period ends.
Carlton County Inmate Record Fields
The Carlton County roster record is brief but useful. It is not a full profile page. It does not show medical notes, mental-health screening, housing unit, exact cell assignment, home address, date of birth, property inventory, or internal classification. It does show enough public data to confirm the custody source, identify the person, and move to the court or bond question.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Booking number | Local jail identifier assigned after intake. |
| Name, race, age | Public demographics visible in the roster excerpts. |
| Mugshot | Booking-photo column when the PDF renders a photo. |
| Arresting agency | Police, sheriff, probation, DOC, tribal, or other agency tied to the arrest or hold. |
| Held for / charges | Statute citations, offense descriptions, warrant language, probable cause, or hold reason. |
| Next court date and bail | Future date, warrant status, hold status, and the roster's 10 percent bail amount when listed. |
Carlton County Jail vs Prison
The fastest way to search depends on the stage of the case. County jail custody is the arrest and local detention stage. State prison custody begins after a prison sentence and DOC transfer. Federal and immigration custody use still other systems, and no BOP or ICE detention facility was found inside Carlton County during the research sweep.
| Question | County Jail | State Prison |
|---|---|---|
| Who is held | Recent arrestees, pretrial detainees, local sentences, warrants, and agency holds | Adults committed to the Minnesota Commissioner of Corrections |
| Run by | Carlton County Sheriff's Office | Minnesota Department of Corrections |
| Lookup tool | Current Carlton jail roster PDF | DOC Locator by name or MNDOC Offender ID |
| Local facility example | Carlton County Jail | Minnesota Correctional Facility - Moose Lake |
State Federal ICE Search
The full access chain includes the Carlton jail roster, jail phone confirmation, in-person Justice Center records access, county public-data requests, the Minnesota DOC Locator, MCRO court records, the BCA conviction-history search, VINELink or Minnesota Haven notifications, the BOP inmate locator, and ICE ODLS. No Carlton County Sheriff or Cloquet Police app was found, so there is no app-only roster or warrant feature to use.
Use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator for federal sentenced inmates from 1982 to present. Use ICE Online Detainee Locator System for immigration detention searches by A-Number and country or biographical details. If a federal pretrial defendant is temporarily housed in a county jail, the local roster may show a hold, but the court file and federal custody record remain separate.
Carlton County Detention Facilities
Carlton County has one primary county jail and two Moose Lake secure facilities that need separate treatment. The county jail is the source for local jail custody. MCF-Moose Lake is state prison custody. MSOP Moose Lake is civil commitment and treatment.
- Carlton County Jail - local jail custody for recent arrestees, pretrial detainees, local sentences, warrants, probation holds, and accepted agency holds.
- Minnesota Correctional Facility - Moose Lake - DOC Level 3 Medium prison for sentenced adult men under state jurisdiction.
- Minnesota Sex Offender Program - Moose Lake - secure civil-commitment treatment campus, not a jail roster or bail facility.
Carlton County Inmate FAQ
How big is the Carlton County inmate population? The county does not publish a single real-time inmate population dashboard. The most reliable jail capacity figure is 96 approved secure coed beds from the 2025 DOC inspection. Current detainees are shown through the roster PDF, while MCF-Moose Lake and MSOP Moose Lake have separate state-level counts or licensed-bed figures.
How do I search the Carlton County inmate population? Start with the current Carlton County jail roster PDF for local detainees. Use PDF search by name or booking number. If the person was just arrested, call the jail because the county says intake detainees may not appear until assigned a booking number.
Where do sentenced inmates go? A person sentenced to prison after a Carlton County case moves to Minnesota DOC custody. Search the DOC Locator rather than the jail roster after transfer. New DOC records may take several business days to appear.
Are booking photos public? Minnesota law generally treats booking photographs as public law-enforcement data, with temporary withholding possible when release would harm an active investigation. Carlton County uses the roster PDF as the main booking-photo channel when photos render.