The Ramsey County Inmate Population
Ramsey County does not have one single inmate count. The main jail count comes from the Adult Detention Center dashboard for the downtown St. Paul booking jail. The sentenced county facility count comes from Ramsey County Community Corrections fact sheets for the Ramsey County Correctional Facility. The juvenile count is handled under juvenile detention and court privacy rules, not the normal adult jail roster. State prison custody is separate because no Minnesota DOC prison is physically located in Ramsey County.
The Adult Detention Center is the booking hub for new arrests, warrants, bail decisions, court appearances, and release processing. Its dashboard reported a May 2026 average jail population of 434 people, with 1,219 bookings and 1,182 releases. The Ramsey County Correctional Facility, often called RCCF or the workhouse, is a sentenced county correctional facility for adults serving up to one year through Second Judicial District Court orders. The 2024 Community Corrections Fact Sheets reported a 2024 average daily population of 99 at RCCF. Those two adult facilities answer different questions, so a search for the Ramsey County inmate population should first separate pretrial jail custody from sentenced county custody.
Ramsey County Inmate Population Statistics
Ramsey County publishes stronger jail data than many counties because its Adult Detention Center dashboard separates population, bookings, and releases by month, race, sex, age, and ethnicity. The most current dashboard data in the research file was May 2026. RCCF data is published through the county's 2024 Community Corrections Fact Sheets. Juvenile detention capacity comes from the Minnesota DHS license lookup.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| ADC latest monthly average population | 434 | Ramsey ADC dashboard JSON, May 2026 |
| ADC latest monthly bookings | 1,219 | Ramsey ADC dashboard JSON, May 2026 |
| ADC latest monthly releases | 1,182 | Ramsey ADC dashboard JSON, May 2026 |
| ADC roster rows with no release date at inspection | 403 | Socrata Bookings by Person API, June 18, 2026 |
| RCCF rated capacity | 556 beds | 2024 Ramsey Community Corrections Fact Sheets |
| RCCF 2024 average daily population | 99 | 2024 Ramsey Community Corrections Fact Sheets |
| Juvenile Detention Center capacity | 44 | Minnesota DHS License Lookup |
Ramsey County Jail Population Trends
The ADC trend line shows a sharp pandemic-era drop, a rebound in 2022, and a higher 2025 average than any full year in the dashboard series shown in the research file. The 2020 average monthly jail population was 274, far below 2018 and 2019. By 2022, the monthly average was back to 431, then reached 463 in 2025. The 2026 year-to-date figure through May was 432, close to the 2022 and 2024 levels.
| Year | Average Monthly Jail Population | Bookings | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 422 | 20,792 | Last full pre-pandemic year in the dashboard series. |
| 2020 | 274 | 12,177 | Population and bookings fell during COVID-era changes. |
| 2022 | 431 | 12,250 | Jail population rebounded while bookings stayed below 2019. |
| 2024 | 425 | 14,380 | Close to the 2022 average, with more bookings. |
| 2025 | 463 | 14,720 | Highest full-year average in the reported dashboard table. |
| 2026 YTD through May | 432 | 5,818 | Partial-year figure from dashboard data. |
RCCF moved differently. Its average daily population was 109 in 2020, dropped to 71 in 2022, and rose to 99 in 2024. The fact sheet ties that low period to COVID-19 policy and practice changes, plus alternatives that let some people serve sentences under community supervision. Work Release resumed in 2023, and the Community Alternative Program served hundreds of residents in 2024.
Who Is Counted in Ramsey County Custody
The May 2026 ADC dashboard snapshot reported 379 male and 55 female people in the average population. By age, the largest group was 26 to 40, with an average population of 201. The same dashboard showed 120 people age 41 to 55, 63 people age 18 to 25, and 23 people age 56 or older. Race and ethnicity totals are published for the dashboard population, while individual open-data booking rows do not show sex, race, height, weight, or a mugshot field.
- Adult pretrial jail custody: the ADC count covers people booked at 425 Grove Street and people held on warrants, bail, court dates, or short jail terms.
- Sentenced county custody: RCCF holds adults sentenced by the Second Judicial District Court for up to one year.
- Juvenile detention: the Ramsey County Juvenile Detention Center is a secure juvenile setting, and juvenile matters are not published online like adult jail cases.
- State prison: people sentenced to the Commissioner of Corrections move into the MNDOC system rather than the Ramsey County jail population.
Ramsey County Jail Capacity
The Adult Detention Center is commonly identified in official county and court context as a 500-bed jail. With a May 2026 average of 434, the dashboard figure was below that stated bed count, but daily population can still move above or below the monthly average. RCCF has a separate rated capacity of 556 beds and a much lower 2024 average daily population of 99. The gap reflects RCCF's sentenced workhouse role, community alternatives, work release, and transition programs rather than open booking volume.
County capital planning records add context without changing the population numbers. The ADC was described as being in its 20th year of continuous use in the 2024-2029 planning cycle, with projects tied to open booking, central control, lobby control, video visitation, medical areas, suicide-prevention barriers, sanitation, and water systems. Those projects are facility-condition facts, not proof of any current overcrowding order.
Laws Governing Ramsey County Jail Records
Minnesota's public-data law is the reason Ramsey County inmate population records are public in the first place. The county roster, dashboard, court file numbers, and written data-practices requests all sit inside state rules that presume government data are public unless a law classifies the data another way. Jail and court records are public in many situations, but private medical, psychological, financial, safety, juvenile, and security-sensitive detention data can be withheld.
Key Statutes:
Minn. Stat. 13.03 says government data are public unless classified otherwise and lets people inspect public data for free.
Minn. Stat. 13.82 makes adult arrest data public and treats booking photographs as public unless temporary investigative withholding applies.
Minn. Stat. 13.85 protects corrections and detention data when release would expose private facts or threaten safety, investigations, or security.
Minn. Stat. 641.05 requires sheriffs to keep a permanent jail record for people committed to a jail under the sheriff's charge.
Minn. Stat. 390.11 covers medical examiner or coroner involvement for deaths of people in public institutions or law-enforcement custody.
Ramsey County and State Prison Custody
No state prison is physically located in Ramsey County. The Minnesota Department of Corrections headquarters is in St. Paul, but the public prison facilities are elsewhere. When a Ramsey County defendant is sentenced to state prison, the person leaves the county jail count and should be searched through the Minnesota DOC public locator. The locator covers adults committed to the Commissioner of Corrections who are still under DOC jurisdiction, including prison and supervised release.
The DOC locator is not a booking roster. It searches by name or six-digit MNDOC offender ID and may take several business days to show newly sentenced people. For custody notifications after sentencing, Minnesota users can also use VINELink or Minnesota Haven where available.
How to Search Ramsey County Inmates
The main online channel is the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center roster and its linked open-data tables. It covers current ADC inmates and people released within the last five days, with updates every 30 minutes. The roster warns that a person may be in intake and not yet visible. When a person does appear, the booking number can connect booking, arresting-charge, formal-charge, and court-hearing rows.
- Open the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center roster or the linked open-data tables.
- Search by name when the interface is available, or filter table rows by name, person ID, or booking number.
- Confirm the booking number, which appears in a 12-digit format such as a number beginning with the booking year.
- Compare the booking row with arresting charges, formal charges, and court data for hearing dates and court file numbers.
- If the person is no longer listed and the release was more than five days ago, use the Sheriff's data-practices request process or MCRO depending on the record needed.
Current Ramsey County Inmate Lookup
The county also has an older xnet roster search page for the Adult Correctional Facility, but the research inspection saw a systems-maintenance notice. Its visible fields were First Name and Last Name. Because the open-data roster story and Socrata datasets were live and documented, they are the stronger Ramsey County inmate lookup path for ADC custody.
The county's open-data roster source is shown below. The Ramsey County open-data roster story explains the public coverage window and the update cycle.
The screenshot fits the current-inmate lookup process because the roster story is the official Ramsey County source for ADC custody and recent release coverage.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Name | Text | Unspecified | Visible on the xnet roster search page. |
| Last Name | Text | Unspecified | Visible on the xnet roster search page. |
| Booking Number | Open-data field | No | Connects booking, charge, formal charge, and court rows. |
| Person ID | Open-data field | No | Internal identifier found in the Socrata tables. |
Past Ramsey County Inmate Records
The public ADC roster window is current inmates plus five days after release. After that window, the correct path depends on the question. For a booking record, booking photograph, or jail record not shown online, submit a written data-practices request to the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office. For the charges filed after arrest, use Minnesota Court Records Online or contact Ramsey Criminal and Traffic Court. For statewide conviction history, use the Minnesota BCA criminal-history search rather than the jail roster.
Ramsey County Sheriff's public data-practices policy says data requests must be in writing. The requester can use the county data request form, mail the request to Ramsey County Sheriff's Office, Data Practices, 425 Grove Street, St. Paul, MN 55101, or email the Responsible Authority Designee listed in the policy. Inspection of public data is free. For 100 or fewer black-and-white paper copies, the policy lists 25 cents for a one-sided page or 50 cents for a two-sided page.
What a Ramsey County Inmate Record Shows
Ramsey County open data is more specific than a flat roster page because separate datasets publish booking rows, arresting charges, formal charges, and court hearings. A booking number ties those records together. The inspected individual roster fields did not include a booking-photo URL, bond amount, housing unit, physical description, race, sex, height, or weight.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Booking Number | A 12-digit booking identifier that links the person to charge and court rows. |
| Date Booked / Date Released | Booking timestamp and release timestamp if release has occurred. |
| Days Detained | Number of days in custody in the Bookings by Person dataset. |
| Arresting Charges | Charges recorded at arrest, with charge level where published. |
| Formal Charges | Prosecutor or court charge language, charge level, and court file number. |
| Court Data | Court date, building, courtroom, address, hearing type, status, and court location. |
Ramsey County Jail vs State Prison
County jail and state prison are easy to confuse. The Ramsey County Adult Detention Center is for booking, pretrial custody, warrants, bail, and short jail custody. RCCF is a sentenced county facility for adults ordered there by the local court. MNDOC is the system for adults committed to the Commissioner of Corrections after a prison sentence.
| Question | County Jail or RCCF | State Prison |
|---|---|---|
| Who is covered? | Arrestees, pretrial detainees, warrants, short jail sentences, and sentenced county residents. | Adults sentenced to DOC prison or under DOC supervision. |
| Where to search? | Ramsey ADC roster, jail phone line, records request, and facility pages. | Minnesota DOC public locator. |
| Identifier used? | Booking number or person ID. | Six-digit MNDOC offender ID or name. |
| When can listing change? | During intake, release, transfer, or after the five-day release window. | After DOC processing, which can take several business days. |
Ramsey County Detention Facilities
Ramsey County's facility map has three local detention pages. The adult pages should not be blended together, and the juvenile page has a different privacy frame.
- Ramsey County Adult Detention Center holds adults booked after arrest, on warrants, before court, awaiting release, or serving some short jail terms.
- Ramsey County Correctional Facility is the sentenced county workhouse for adults ordered there for up to one year.
- Ramsey County Juvenile Detention Center is a secure juvenile detention setting, and juvenile matters are not published online like adult records.
Ramsey County Inmate Population FAQ
How big is the Ramsey County inmate population?
The ADC dashboard reported a May 2026 average of 434 people, while the RCCF 2024 fact sheet reported a 2024 average daily population of 99. Those figures count different adult custody settings.
How often does the Ramsey County jail roster update?
The official open-data roster story says ADC records are updated every 30 minutes and cover current inmates plus five days after release.
Where are sentenced state prisoners listed?
Sentenced prisoners committed to MNDOC are listed in the Minnesota DOC public locator, not the Ramsey County jail roster.