Why does the Sheriffs Office run the jail?
By state law, the Sheriff of each county in Minnesota is designated as the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the county and has a number of mandatory responsibilities, one of which is to maintain and staff the County Jail. To carry out this responsibility, the Sheriff has created a division of the Sheriff’s Office to run the day-to-day operations of the jail. The jail is funded primarily through tax funds levied by the County Board and allocated to the Sheriff.
