Dakota County Jail

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The Dakota County Jail is located at 1580 Highway 55 in Hastings, MN and is a medium security county jail operated by the Dakota County Sheriff’s Department.

This guide tells you information about anything a person needs to know about the Dakota County Jail, like how to locate an inmate at the Dakota County Jail, the jail’s address and phone number, intake procedures, court information and records, and much more.

Top 10 Searches for Dakota County Jail

1. Dakota County Jail Information
2. Dakota County Jail Inmate Search
3. Dakota County Inmate Search in Hastings, MN
4. Dakota County Jail Visitation Rules
5. Dakota County Jail Visitation Hours
6. Discount Dakota County Jail Inmate Calls
7. How to Send Inmate Care Packages to Dakota County Jail
8. What is Inmate Commissary?
9. How to Send Money to an Inmate at Dakota County Jail
10. How to Search Dakota County Arrest Records

Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to offer information and advice you need to make going to jail a little less stressful. If you have questions, please feel free to ask them, and please leave any comments or tips that might be beneficial to other people in the same situation will be much appreciated.

Dakota County Jail Inmate Search

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Who’s In Jail

The Dakota County Jail Inmate Search is an online list of people who are in jail, which includes current status, and visiting schedule. Also, you can find the same information on anybody processed or released in the last 24 hours. Inmates are listed alphabetically by last name. You will be able to get their arrest information faster if you’ve got the arrestee’s name, birth date, or inmate ID.

Dakota County Jail Policies and Procedures

Intake Procedures

The jail intake process at the Dakota County Jail takes you through these steps:

You will be placed in a holding cell. If the jail is busy, it will take a while to get processed.

First you must answer some basic questions, such as what is your full legal name, your address, birth date and contact person, and they’ll also ask you about your psychological and medical history. Next, You will be given an inmate number and you will be fingerprinted. Then, Any property you have will get taken away from you and will be stored until you are released.

You will get to make a telephone call in order to call a member of your family, friend, or somebody else who can help you get out.

If you are expected to be released quickly, you might be allowed to keep wearing street clothes, but if you are not expected to make bail quickly you you will be given a jail issued jumpsuit.

Discharge Procedures

When you finally post bail, you will be allowed to leave jail. Getting discharged can take anywhere from 15 minutes to hours or even all day long. Or, simply, the faster you post bail, the quicker you will get discharged. How quickly you get discharged can depend on whether you’ve got a cash bond or if the judge has to figure out how much your bail will be. For lesser charges, you will be booked and released on your own recognizance. When you have served your sentence and are given a date of your release, expect to get discharged between 9am and noon.

Dakota County Jail Visitation

In order to have visitors, inmates need to provide the name and date of birth of each visitor to the Dakota County Jail in advance. Your visitors will go into the visitation log as an Authorized visit. All visitors must provide proof of identification. Anyone showing up late or that is not on the visitation list will not be allowed to visit the inmate.

The Dakota County Jail visitation procedures frequently change, so it would be wise to call the jail at (651) 438-4700 before you go.

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Visitation Rules

In order to visit an inmate at the Dakota County Jail you must be on this person’s visitation list.

Make sure to take your valid driver’s license or government issued ID when you go to visit or you will not be allowed to enter.

No phones are allowed at Dakota County Jail, and you will be searched before entering. Personal belongings are not allowed. Persons parole, probation, or other corrections supervision must get the permission of both their individual supervising officer and the superintendent prior to a visit. Usually is not normally approved.

If a visitor is younger than 18 years of age and is a family member of the inmate, they will have to 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 of age and is not a family member of the inmate, the minor visitor must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Sending Mail to Inmates

This is what you need to know about sending letters, photos, postcards, greeting cards and magazines to an inmate at the Dakota County Jail. Incoming and outgoing inmate mail at the Dakota 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 Dakota 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 Dakota 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 believe you have an outstanding warrant, you can check court records online or you can call the court. You have to have the person’s first and last name. Or, you can just go down to the jail and ask them. Keep in mind 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, as well as their arrest date, contact the Dakota County jail, on the phone, go there in person, or find out online. An arrest is in the public record and the information is freely available.

Court Records

Court Records are public records and available to anyone. Court Records include a case file that includes a court docket and any of the documents and filings filed in your court case. You can access court records via the internet, or at Clerk of Court office in the county where the case was filed.

Criminal Records

Each state maintains records of their state citizen’s criminal past. These state databases are all connected so you are able to track criminal backgrounds from any other state. You are able to go to courthouse and check in person, or check online. It is helpful to know the county the crime was committed in, and in the event that it was in a different state entirely, you may have to pay a fee for a more comprehensive search.

A criminal records search you will find out if a person has ever been arrested, charged or convicted for driving under the influence (DUI), drug offenses such as possession or trafficking, kidnapping, sex offenses which could include rape, and sexual assault, violent crimes including assault, battery and murder, or breaking and entering, theft, larceny.

Money & Commissary

The procedure to send funds to Dakota County Jail jail inmates is likely to change, so it would be best to check the Dakota County Jail site before you send funds to an inmate there.

How To Send Money to an Inmate at Dakota 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 Dakota County Jail uses changes frequently, so it is best to call them at (651) 438-4700 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 Dakota County Jail store. You can purchase a number of things here, like toiletries, snacks and writing supplies. Remember that you will probably need to use the commissary daily, and any infractions will cause you to lose commissary privileges.

The Commissary will sell an assortment of different products that inmates can purchase if they have enough money in their commissary account. These items include clothes, shoes, small snacks and other food items, as well as personal hygiene products like 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

Phone calls that inmates are allowed to make from the Dakota County Jail are made through a jail approved pre-paid phone account or phone card . Phone calls made in jail are a lot pricier than regular phone calls. There is no limit to when you can make phone calls, how long you can talk, and how often you can make calls, but bear in mind that every inmate wants to use the phone too, so they can call their family. If you are disciplined for an infraction, an inmate’s ability to use the phone could be reduced or forbidden completely.

The Dakota County Jail phone number is: (651) 438-4700

How To Save Money on Inmate Calls

Correctional facility phone service companies have exclusive contracts at each facility that they are the exclusive phone provider for, which means that they they control the prices. The profits these phone service providers make from all of the phone calls that inmates make are shared 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 Dakota County Jail. The rates are posted and there are at least two different prices based on where the inmate is calling. The following three factors 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 state prisons and local jails learning how to lower your inmates phone charges is more difficult. ArrestedResources.com keeps up to date 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. There are some prisons or jails where we will not be able to save you money on your inmate calls, and in these cases we will not offer you an inmate calling number. In cases like this, the jail or prison has set their phone rates in a way that nobody will be able to save you money.

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

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