The Rice County Inmate Population
The Rice County inmate population is split across two very different custody systems. The local side is the Rice County Jail, operated by the Rice County Sheriff's Office at the Public Safety Center in Faribault. It holds pretrial detainees, sentenced local inmates, short juvenile holds approved under state rules, and people waiting for court, release, or transfer. The state side is Minnesota Correctional Facility - Faribault, a Minnesota Department of Corrections prison that holds sentenced adult men under DOC jurisdiction. A person can start in the county jail after an arrest and later leave the county roster if a sentence sends the person to DOC custody.
The most direct county source is the official Rice County Jail page, which links the jail list, active warrants, jail phone line, and visiting information. Population figures come from several sources, not one live counter. The county roster shows who is listed now. The Minnesota DOC inspection report documents approved jail beds. Older county facility documents show past average daily population and bookings. The DOC public viewer and Faribault facility profile cover sentenced state prisoners, not ordinary county jail inmates.
Rice County Inmate Population Statistics
Rice County's strongest jail figures come from the Minnesota DOC inspection record and the county's own facility planning materials. The new jail is a secure coed local adult detention facility. The DOC inspection used an on-site walk-through, staff and inmate interviews, file review, documentation review, and video footage review. Older county planning records matter because they explain the local detention pressure before the Public Safety Center opened.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Rice County Jail approved capacity | 76 secure coed beds | Minnesota DOC Rice County Jail inspection, inspected 3/13/2025 |
| Rice County Jail operational capacity | 68.40 beds, listed as 68 beds at 90% | Minnesota DOC inspection, 2025 |
| Rice County Jail designed capacity | 90 beds | Minnesota DOC inspection, 2025 |
| 2018 Rice County Jail bookings | 1,574 | Rice County facility assessment RFP, 2019 |
| 2018 average daily population | 50 | Rice County facility assessment RFP, 2019 |
| 2019 projected average daily population | 52 | Rice County facility assessment RFP, 2019 |
| MCF-Faribault on-site population | 1,944 adult offenders | MNDOC daily inmate profile dated 5/25/2026 |
| Rice County population | 68,525 | Rice County Profile 2024, State Demographic Center 2023 estimate |
Rice County Inmate Population Trends
The Rice County inmate population story is tied to the replacement of the older jail system. The county's 2019 facility assessment RFP said the Sheriff's Office had been using a 36-bed main jail and a 37-bed minimum-security annex. It also said the county boarded overflow inmates in Steele, Le Sueur, and Goodhue county jails. That detail matters because a roster search may not have told the whole story when a person was held outside Rice County during high-population periods or classification limits.
The Public Safety Center construction project page explains the local decision. Rice County considered expanding the annex and also considered a Steele County partnership. In July 2021 the County Board chose a new local jail, citing local control and cost. County materials said reclassification and transfer limits could raise out-of-county housing and transport costs. The current jail opened in November 2024, so older PDFs can still point readers to the annex or the former Law Enforcement Center.
| Year | Jail ADP / Population Point | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 50 ADP | County RFP reported 1,574 bookings and overflow boarding. |
| 2019 | 52 projected ADP | County RFP projected 1,526 bookings. |
| 2021 | No ADP figure located | County selected a new jail rather than a Steele County collaboration. |
| 2024 | New facility opened | Official jail page says the 76-bed jail opened in November 2024. |
| 2025 | 76 approved / 68 operational beds | DOC inspection documented the new capacity. |
| 2026 | Roster timestamp available | Roster showed a current timestamp on 6/18/2026, but no official 2026 ADP was located. |
Rice County Jail Capacity
Capacity is not just a bed count. The DOC inspection lists 76 approved secure coed beds, an operational capacity calculated at 90 percent, and a 90-bed designed capacity. The facility type is Jail, and Minnesota Rules chapter 2911 governs local adult detention standards. The older county materials show why this change mattered. The prior Law Enforcement Center jail was described as an old-style linear jail with physical deficiencies and limited programming and recreation space. The annex was moved in 2011 to a former Army Reserve site along Highway 60, but county materials later cited mechanical issues and a nearby gas main as hurdles to expansion.
The current record set does not provide a current overcrowding finding or a 2025 or 2026 average daily population for the jail. That gap should be read narrowly. It means the public file gives strong capacity data but does not publish a recent daily average. For a current custody count, use the Rice County Jail List. For capacity and standards, use the DOC inspection archive and the county construction project record.
The Rice County Jail page is the source for the current jail identity, roster link, warrant link, phone line, and visiting hours.
The county page is also the safest starting point when old search results still point to the former jail location or annex references.
Laws Governing Rice County Inmate Records
Minnesota law explains why some Rice County inmate population data is public while other parts of a jail file are not. The rule is not that every jail document is open. Arrest data, public law-enforcement data, a permanent jail register, booking photos, and court-filed records can be public. Medical, mental-health, security, confidential investigative, and other nonpublic detention data can be withheld or redacted.
Key Minnesota Rules:
Minn. Stat. 13.03 says government data are public unless a law classifies them otherwise, and public data must be available for inspection and copying.
Minn. Stat. 13.82 governs law-enforcement data and treats booking photographs as public unless temporary withholding is justified by an active investigation.
Minn. Stat. 13.85 covers corrections and detention data, including private or confidential parts of jail and prison records.
Minn. Stat. 641.05 requires the sheriff to keep a permanent record of commitments to the jail.
Minnesota Rules chapter 2911 sets minimum standards for local adult detention facilities.
Rice County and State Prison Custody
Rice County is unusual because a large state prison sits in Faribault while the county jail also operates there. Minnesota Correctional Facility - Faribault is not part of the Rice County inmate roster. It is run by the Minnesota Department of Corrections and holds sentenced adult men at Level 2 minimum and Level 3 medium custody. DOC identifies it as the largest facility in the state system by capacity. The 5/25/2026 DOC daily profile reported 1,944 adult offenders on site and 1,969 under case responsibility.
That distinction affects searches. A person arrested in Rice County may appear on the county jail list during booking, first appearance, and local custody. After a prison sentence and transfer, the county roster is no longer the main lookup. Use the Minnesota DOC public viewer for adults committed to the Commissioner of Corrections who remain under DOC jurisdiction. Newly sentenced people may take several business days to appear in the state public viewer.
Search the Rice County Inmate Population
The county's official online custody lookup is the Rice County Sheriff's Office Inmate Roster, linked from the jail page as the Rice County Jail List. The roster is free and did not show a login requirement in the inspected source. On June 18, 2026, the accessible roster text showed a current timestamp and instructed users to type part of a last name to search the roster.
The roster covers current Rice County Jail custody. It does not cover every person with a Rice County court case, every person who has been released, or every person sentenced to MNDOC prison. Start with the broadest name spelling. Then move to phone, records, court, DOC, BOP, ICE, or VINELink channels when the person is not shown.
- Open the Rice County Sheriff's Office Inmate Roster.
- Read the roster timestamp before relying on the result.
- Use the Filter by Name field and type part of the person's last name.
- Review each row for front mugshot, inmate name, booked date, and charges.
- Call the jail at 507-332-6021 if a recent arrest, transfer, release, or hold may not be reflected online.
- Use the DOC public viewer for sentenced state prisoners and VINELink for custody-status notifications.
Rice County Roster Search Fields
The roster search is narrow. It is built around a name filter, not a full booking-record database. The visible result columns are useful for current custody, but they do not show bond, housing, booking number, court date, release date, or arresting agency in the accessible row text. For a fuller case picture, pair the roster with MCRO court search and direct jail or records contact.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Filter by Name | Text | Unspecified | Roster says to type part of a last name; no DOB, booking number, date range, or wildcard rule was visible. |
| Search or filter action | Live filter or text filter | Unspecified | No separate search button label was visible in accessible text. |
| Front Mugshot | Result column | n/a | Displays a front booking image or placeholder for each listed inmate. |
| Inmate | Result column | n/a | Displays the name as Inmate: last name, first name. |
| Booked | Result column | n/a | Displays booking date in month/day/year format. |
| Charges | Result column | n/a | Displays charge code or description and may include Arrest of Adult. |
The Rice County Jail List screenshot shows the current roster layout with its filter field, front mugshot column, booking dates, and charges.
Use the row details as a current custody lead, then verify release, bond, or court changes with the jail or court record.
Rice County Inmate Record Fields
A Rice County jail roster row is a short public record, not the full jail file. The inspected public row inventory showed a front mugshot, inmate name, booking date, and charges. It did not show birth date, address, phone, exact housing, medical details, mental-health details, financial data, booking number, bond, or court date in the accessible text. Some of those omissions reflect privacy and jail-security limits under Minnesota detention-data law.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Front mugshot | A booking image or placeholder tied to the current roster entry. |
| Name | The public row lists the person as Inmate: last name, first name. |
| Booking date | The date the person was booked into the jail, shown in short date format. |
| Charges | Charge code or plain-language charge text. Many rows include Arrest of Adult. |
| Bond | Not visible in the accessible roster row text reviewed for the research file. |
| Housing or status | Not visible in the accessible row text. Call the jail for current release or transfer questions. |
Rice County Jail vs State Prison
The key search mistake is using the county roster for a person who has already moved to state prison, or using the DOC viewer for someone still waiting in local jail. County jail custody is local and often short-term. State prison custody starts after sentencing and commitment to the Commissioner of Corrections. Federal and immigration custody use separate systems again.
| County Jail | State Prison | |
|---|---|---|
| Who is held | Pretrial detainees, local sentences, holds pending court or transfer | Sentenced adult men at MCF-Faribault and other DOC facilities |
| Run by | Rice County Sheriff's Office | Minnesota Department of Corrections |
| Where to look | Rice County Jail List | MNDOC public viewer |
| Record type | Booking row with mugshot, name, booked date, and charges | DOC profile tied to offender ID, facility, status, sentence, and supervision |
State and Federal Inmate Search
Use the MNDOC public viewer when the person has been sentenced to state custody or released from prison while still under DOC supervision. Search can be by name or MNDOC offender ID. Use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator for federal prisoners from 1982 to present. BOP searches can use a federal number or a name with optional race, age, and sex fields. Use ICE Online Detainee Locator System only when there is reason to believe immigration detention is involved.
VINELink is a separate custody-status notification system. It is useful for alerts, especially when release timing matters. It should not replace a direct jail call for an urgent Rice County release, transfer, bond, or court-transport question. No official Rice County Sheriff's Office mobile app with an inmate roster, warrant search, or app-only custody tool was confirmed in the research.
Rice County Public Records Requests
When a current roster row is not enough, use the county's data-practices process. Rice County's guidelines adopted January 6, 2026 say public-data requesters cannot be required to use a form or identify themselves. There is no fee just to inspect public data. Copies may involve actual costs, and the county may charge no more than 25 cents per page for 100 or fewer black-and-white letter or legal paper copies under Minn. Stat. 13.03.
Nonpublic data is different. A requester may need to identify themselves with government photo ID or another reasonable method. A notarized form, proof of authority, or informed consent from the data subject may be required. For law-enforcement reports, Rice County guidance also says agencies must provide the statutory authority if they refuse release or redact a record. Use the Sheriff's Office Records Staff line, 507-332-6003, for records questions and the jail line, 507-332-6021, for current custody questions.
Rice County Detention Facilities
Two facilities drive most Rice County inmate population searches, but they should not be merged. The county jail is the local roster source. MCF-Faribault is a state prison source. Their populations, access rules, visitor rules, and record systems are different.
- Rice County Jail holds local pretrial detainees, sentenced local inmates, and holds pending court or transfer.
- Minnesota Correctional Facility - Faribault holds sentenced adult male state prisoners under Minnesota DOC jurisdiction.
- Booking
- The jail intake event that creates a public custody row and a permanent jail record.
- Detainer
- A hold or request from another agency, such as probation, parole, federal, immigration, or another county authority.
- VINELink
- A victim-notification system used for custody and release alerts.
- MCRO
- Minnesota Court Records Online, the court search system for filed case records.
Rice County Inmate Population FAQ
How big is the Rice County inmate population?
The latest sourced jail capacity figure is 76 approved secure coed beds, with 68 operational beds at 90 percent, from the 2025 DOC inspection. The 2018 average daily population was 50, and the 2019 projected ADP was 52 in county planning records. MCF-Faribault is separate state prison custody, with 1,944 adult offenders on site in the 5/25/2026 DOC profile.
How do I search the Rice County inmate population?
Start with the Rice County Jail List for current county jail inmates. Type part of the last name in the roster filter and read the timestamp. If the person is not shown, call the jail, check MCRO court records, search the MNDOC public viewer for sentenced prisoners, or use BOP and ICE locators for federal or immigration custody.
Can I find a released Rice County inmate?
The public roster is a current custody list, and no official historical roster archive was located. For past booking data, use the Rice County Sheriff's Office records staff and the county data-practices process. Court records in MCRO may also show charges, hearings, warrants, and case outcomes after release.
Are Rice County booking photos public?
The roster has a Front Mugshot column. Minnesota law treats booking photographs as public data unless a law-enforcement agency temporarily withholds access because release would harm an active investigation. Other detention file details can still be private or confidential.