The Otter Tail County Jail Roster is a public resource that allows anyone to check who is currently held in the local detention center. In the state of Minnesota, inmate information is provided in accordance with Minnesota Statutes 13.82, 13.85, and 641.05. The site OttertailCourt.us helps quickly find publicly available information about current and recent inmates. Additionally, data can be obtained through the official sheriff's office website, by personally visiting the detention center, or by calling the facility. The register is maintained by the Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office and is updated daily on the Jail In Custody List page.
Search Current Inmates in Otter Tail Jail
There are several ways to find out if a specific person is in custody at the Otter Tail County Jail.
Online Search
- Visit OttertailCourt.us to find publicly available information about court cases and inmates.
- Go to the official Jail In Custody List page on the county's website. The list displays all individuals currently held in the detention center.
- The page shows the list in a table format. If there is no search field, use the browser's Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on Mac) function to find the last name of the person you are looking for.
You will need the person's full legal name or booking number if you know it. Juvenile offenders are not displayed in the public register.
By Phone
Call the detention center directly. The operator can confirm if a specific person is in custody if you provide the full name.
In-Person Visit
You can visit the detention center lobby in person. The jail operates 24/7, but administrative requests are best made during business hours.
Otter Tail County Detention Facility
Additional information about the facility — capacity (111 places), conditions of detention — can be found on the County Jail page. If you are interested in active arrest warrants, check the sheriff's warrant list, which is updated daily.
Find Otter Tail Jail Booking Records Online
A booking record is created at the moment when a detained person is officially registered in the jail. It is the first document that records the fact of being in custody.
During registration, the following data is formed:
- Unique booking number
- Date and time of admission
- Charges presented
- Arresting agency
- Basic identification data of the person
Current records are available through the Jail In Custody List page. It only displays those who are currently in custody. Once released, the record disappears from the list.
If you need older records or documents not available in the online register, submit an official data request through the Data and Records Request page. There is a separate form for Sheriff's Office records. Court materials for the case — indictments, decisions, hearing protocols — can be found through Minnesota Court Records Online (MCRO), selecting Otter Tail from the list of counties.
Search the Otter Tail Jail Roster by Last Name or Booking Number
On the official Jail In Custody List page, the register is presented as a table listing all inmates.
Search by Last Name
- Open the register page.
- Press Ctrl+F (Windows) or Cmd+F (Mac).
- Enter the last name in Latin letters — for example, "Johnson". The browser will highlight all matches on the page.
A few tips:
- Use the exact spelling of the last name. Double-barreled or hyphenated last names may be displayed differently.
- If the last name is common, add the first name to the search to narrow down the results.
- Try a shortened version of the last name if the full one yields no results.
Search by Booking Number
If you know the booking number, enter it in the browser's search field. This method provides an unambiguous result, as the number is unique to each record.
If the Search Yields No Results
The absence of a name in the register can mean several things: the person has already been released, they have not yet been registered, or they are held in another facility. Call the detention center at (218) 998-8555 to clarify the status. To search for individuals in state correctional facilities, use the Minnesota Department of Corrections search tool.
Jail Roster Updates and Search Limitations in Otter Tail
The inmate register on the county's website is updated daily. However, there may be a few hours between the actual booking and the appearance of the record on the page — time is needed for document processing and data entry.
Main limitations to be aware of:
- Registration Delay. A recently detained person may not yet appear in the online list, even if they are physically in the detention center.
- Disappearance After Release. As soon as a person is released — on bail, after serving a sentence, or by court decision — their name is removed from the register. The list is not an archive of all past bookings.
- Only Current Custody. The register shows only those who are in custody at the time of the last update. Historical data is not available through this page.
- Data Entry Errors. Sometimes a name may be recorded with an error or in a non-standard format, complicating the search.
To obtain archival records or documents not in the public list, contact the Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office or submit a formal request through the Data and Records Request page. Court records for criminal cases, including information on charges and court decisions, are available through the MCRO system — select Otter Tail County from the dropdown list and enter the party's name or case number.