Mahnomen County Exploring Possibility of Building New Jail

Mahnomen, MN — Could a new jail be on the horizon for Mahnomen County? During a recent visit on the KRJB Kaleidoscope, Mahnomen County Sheriff Josh Guenther shared some of their recent troubles with jailing and some potential future options for the county moving forward. Mahnomen County currently contracts with Tri-County Community Corrections in Crookston and is spending more than $800,000 a year to have their inmates housed there. However, Sheriff Guenther notes despite their contract, they have had to bring inmates elsewhere due to staffing shortages at that facility.

Mahnomen County typically has between 35 and 45 inmates on average. Because of their high volume of inmates and the high cost of transporting and housing inmates elsewhere, Sheriff Guenther says they are exploring the option of building their jail in Mahnomen County in the future.

While the cost of building a jail could have risen to as much as $10 million since previous estimates, Mahnomen County Administrator CJ Holl says financially its feasible given how much they are already spending to contract with other jails.

Mahnomen County is also currently wrapping up renovations on the new Human Services building in downtown Mahnomen and is hoping to move that department to its new facility sometime in August.