Cook County Jail

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The Cook County Jail is located at 143 Gunflint Trail in Grand Marais, MN and is a medium security county jail operated by the Cook County Sheriff’s Department.

This page will tell you info about anything you might need to know about the Cook County Jail, such as how to do a jail inmate search, the jail’s phone number and address, intake procedures and booking, court information and records, and much much more.

Top 10 Searches for Cook County Jail

1. Cook County Jail Information
2. Cook County Jail Inmate Search
3. Cook County Inmate Search in Grand Marais, MN
4. What Are the Visitation Rules for Cook County Jail
5. Cook County Jail Visitation Hours
6. How To Save Money on Inmate Calls at Cook County Jail
7. Cook County Jail Care Packages
8. What is Inmate Commissary?
9. How to Send Money to an Inmate at Cook County Jail
10. How to Search Cook County Arrest Records

Introduction

This guide is meant to give you advice and information you need to make the process less stressfull. If you have questions, please feel free to ask them, and any feedback or comments that could be a benefit to other people in the same situation is much appreciated.

Cook County Jail Inmate Search

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Who’s In Jail

The Cook County Jail Inmate Locator is a roster of individuals who are in jail, including status, and visiting schedule. You can find info on anybody processed or released in the last 24 hours. Prisoners are shown in alphabetical order by their last name. You can find their arrest information quicker if you enter the arrestee’s full name, birth date, or inmate ID Number.

Cook County Jail Policies and Procedures

Intake Procedures

The intake process at the Cook County Jail is made up of each of these steps:

They’ll put you in a holding cell. When the jail is busy, you will have to wait a while to get processed.

First you will have to answer a bunch of questions, like what is your full legal name, address, date of birth and contact person, and also, you will also be asked about your medical and mental history. Next, You will be given an inmate ID number and you will get fingerprinted. Then, all personal property will be taken away from you and stored until you get released.

You will get to make a telephone call in order to call a member of your family, friend, or loved one.

If they expect that you will make bail and be released quickly, you will be allowed to keep wearing your own clothes, otherwise you you will have to change into a jail uniform.

Discharge Procedures

When you pay your bail, you will get discharged from jail. Getting discharged will take from 15 minutes to many hours. In simple terms, the faster you post bail, the sooner you will get released. It also depends on if you’ve been given a bond amount or if the magistrate has to determine how much your bail will be. For minor offenses, you will get booked and then released on your recognizance without having to pay bail. When you have served your sentence and know the date of your release, expect to be released at any time that day – but usually in the morning.

Cook County Jail Visitation

The inmate have to provide each visitor’s full name to the Cook County Jail in advance. This information will go in a Visiting log for the inmate. All visitors must provide acceptable photo identification when visiting an inmate. Visitors arriving late or any visitors that are not approved to visit will not be allowed to visit the inmate.

Visitation procedures at Cook County Jail are always changing, so call the official Cook County Jail at (218) 387-3030 before you try to go to visitation.

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Visitation Rules

In order to visit an inmate at the Cook County Jail you have to have your name on the inmate’s approved visitation list.

Make sure to take your up to date government issued ID or valid driver’s license with you to visitation or you will not be allowed to enter.

No cellphones are allowed at Cook County Jail, and you will be searched before visiting. No personal belongings. Anybody currently on must obtain the permission of both the superintendent and their individual supervising officer before they can visit. This kind of visitation is not normally approved.

If the visitor is younger than 18 years of age is related to the inmate, they must be accompanied by an adult family member or guardian to include a member of the inmate’s extended family. If the visitor is younger than 18 years old and is not a family member of the inmate, this visitor must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Sending Mail to Inmates

This is what you need to know in order to send letters, photos, postcards, greeting cards and magazines to an inmate at the Cook County Jail. Incoming and outgoing inmate mail at the Cook County Jail is always searched and inspected for contraband that might threaten the security, safety or well-being of the facility, its staff, and inmates. Inmates can only receive metered, unstamped, plain white postcards no larger than 4″ x 6″ as mail. The writing on the postcard has to be in pencil or blue or black ink. If it has a stamp on it, it will get returned. If you write in green ink, then it will get returned. If you send any other kind of mail will be returned to the sender. If there is no return address on it, then the unauthorized mail will be stored in the inmate’s locker until the inmate gets release.

Do not include any of these things in the mail that you send to an inmate: any kind of threat to jail order, any description of the manufacture of weapons, bombs, incendiary devices, or tools for escape; do not encourage or advocate any kind of violence, hate speech, or racial or ethnic supremacy. Inmates are not allowed to write to other inmates.

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Sending Other Things to an Inmate

There are strict procedures that you must follow to send anything to an inmate at the Cook County Jail. This includes sending money for to spend in the commissary, sending regular mail or photos, sending money for phone calls, and even postcards.

This page covers everthing you need to know about the Cook County Jail to help you follow these procedures and guidelines. If you have questions, or there is something that you were looking for, but did not find, please contact us using the contact link in the site menu.

Public Records

Warrant Inquiry

If you think you might have a warrant out for your arrest, you are able to check the arrest warrants online or you are able to call the jail. You have to have their first and last name. Or, you can just go down to the jail and ask them. You should know that if there is an arrest warrant out for you, they will take you into custody immediately.

Arrest Record Search

If you have a first and last name, and the date of their arrest, contact the jail, on the phone, in person, or check online. Records of arrests are in the public record and the information is accessible by the public.

Court Records

Court Records are considered public records, so they are accessible to anyone who requests them. They include a court case file that includes a docket and all documents filed in the case. You can access your court records on their website, or at Clerk of Court office in the county where the case was filed.

Criminal Records

Every state keeps a record of people’s criminal history. These databases are all linked so you are able to track criminal backgrounds from another state. Go to courthouse and check in person, or you can check online. It helps to know the county, and if it was in a different state entirely, you may have to pay a fee for a more complete search.

A search of someone’s criminal history you are able to find out if someone has been arrested, charged, or convicted for these crimes, drug crimes like possession or trafficking, kidnapping, rape or other sexual assault, violent crimes, or breaking and entering, theft, larceny.

Money & Commissary

The process for sending funds to Cook County Jail inmates can change at any time, so be sure to review the Cook County Jail site when send money to someone in jail there.

How To Send Money to an Inmate at Cook County Jail

You will have your own ‘bank account’ while in jail. This money is used to purchase items from the Commissary. Family and friends can deposit money into this account for you, and any money you earn while in prison will also be deposited into your account. Outside money can be paid in to your account via a money order, cash or check. If someone sends a check or money order, make sure that they write your inmate ID on it. The maximum amount you are allowed in your account is $290 per month.

Guidelines For Sending Money To An Inmate

Before you send any money you should find out what online money transfer companies the jail your inmate is incarcerated in uses. The exact method that the Cook County Jail uses changes frequently, so it is best to call them at (218) 387-3030 to get the current payment method.

You may be required to be on the inmate’s visitation list in order to send them money, and be aware that they may have a limit on how much you deposit at one time, like $200-300 at a time, or a limit on how much money may be in the inmate’s account at one time.

Some of the money transfer firms being used by various facilities include JPay, MoneyGram, AccessCorrections, OffenderConnect, Touchpayonline, JailATM, WU, smartdeposit, and tigercommissary.

If an inmate has fines or are required to pay restitution then they will be subject to garnishment of their commissary/trust account. If the inmate has a garnishment, then money to pay them will be taken from the inmate’s bank account. In some cases it may be a percentage or the entire amount of the obligation, but the actual percentage depends on the circumstances. We recommend that inmates talk to the counselor at their facility and try to find out. You can also try to make an arrangement so that only a percentage of your commissary funds are taken, instead of all your funds take at one time.

Commissary

The commissary is the Cook County Jail store. You can purchase different things here, like toiletries, snacks and writing supplies. Bear in mind that you will most likely want to buy things from the commissary on a daily basis, and any infractions will cause you to lose commissary privileges.

The Commissary will sell an assortment of different items that inmates can buy if they have money in their account. These products include clothes, shoes, small snacks and other food items, in addition to personal hygiene products including soap, shampoo, and disposable razors for shaving. The commissary also sells other things like books and magazines, televisions and radios, playing cards, headphones, MP3 players, and electronic tablets. They also sell everything need to write home to family, friends, and loved ones: paper, envelopes, and stamps. If an inmate is indigent and cannot afford paper and stamps, the jail will provide these things to an inmate who has not had any money in their commissary account for at least 30 days.

Phone Calls & Phone Usage Policy

The only phone calls that Cook County Jail inmates are allowed to make are made through a jail approved pre-paid phone account or phone card . Calls made in jail are generally pricier than phone calls made at home. Inmates are able to make phone calls, with restrictions on when you can make phone calls, how long you can talk, and how often you can make calls, but bear in mind lots of people want to use the phone – so you have to share. If you break the jail rules, an inmate’s phone privileges may be limited or eliminated completely.

The Cook County Jail phone number is: (218) 387-3030

How To Save Money on Inmate Calls

Correctional facility phone service providers have exclusive contracts at each facility that they are the exclusive phone provider for, which means that they they control the prices. The money these phone service providers make off of all inmate phone calls are split with the facility, so there is no incentive for the jail or the counselors at the facility to show inmates or their family how to save money on inmate phone calls at the Cook County Jail. The prices are posted and there are at least two pricing tiers based on where the inmate is calling. The following three things will determine the cost of an inmate phone call: Where you are located; Where your inmate is located, What type of phone number you have.

For example, if your inmate is in federal prison, if you get a new local number then this will decrease your inmate’s phone call rate from $.21 per minute to only $.06 per minute.

For the other correctional facilities like state prisons, and local and county jails finding out how to lower your inmates phone charges can be more difficult. ArrestedResources.com is an expert in keeping up with all of the changes that affect your inmate’s rate and in most cases is able to offer you an inmate calling number that will save you significantly on how much it costs you to call your inmate. In some cases, we won’t be able to save you any money, and therefore we will not offer you an inmate calling number. In these cases, the jail or prison has set their phone call rates so high that nobody can save you money.

For more detailed information on how to save on inmate calls at Cook County Jail, click the link below.

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