Watonwan County Jail

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The Watonwan County Jail is located at 713 Third Street South in St James, MN and is a medium security county jail operated by the Watonwan County Sheriff’s Department.

This site tells you information about everything one might want to know about the Watonwan County Jail, like how to locate an inmate at the Watonwan County Jail, the jail’s address and phone number, booking and intake procedures, how to find Watonwan County court records, and much much more.

Top 10 Searches for Watonwan County Jail

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

Introduction

This guide is meant to give you information that you’ll need to make the process less stressfull. If you have a question, feel free to ask it in the comment section below, and also any comments or feedback that could be beneficial to others would be much appreciated.

Watonwan County Jail Inmate Search

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Who’s In Jail

The Watonwan County Jail Inmate Lookup has information about individuals who were arrested and are now in jail, including status, and visiting schedule. Also, you are able to find information for anyone booked or discharged within the last 24 hours. Prisoners are listed alphabetically by last name. You can find their inmate information faster if you’ve got their name, date of birth, or inmate ID.

Watonwan County Jail Policies and Procedures

Intake Procedures

The intake procedure at the Watonwan County Jail takes you through these steps:

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

First, you must answer a bunch of questions, such as what is your full name, address, birthdate and contact person, and they’ll also ask you about your psychological and medical history. Next, you will be issued an inmate ID and you will get fingerprinted. Then, Any property you have will get taken away from you and stored until you get discharged from jail.

They will let you make a phone call so you can call a family member, friend, or loved-on.

If you are expected to be released shortly, they will let you skip the jumpsuit and keep wearing your own clothes, but if you are not expected to make bail quickly you you will have to change into a jail uniform – the jumpsuit.

Discharge Procedures

Once you are able to post bail, you will be allowed to go home after you get discharged. The discharge process can take anywhere from 15 minutes to quite a few hours. Or, simply, the quicker you post bail, the faster you will get discharged. How quickly you get discharged might depend on whether you have a bond amount or if a judge has to decide on how much your bail will be. For a minor charge, you will get booked and get released without having to post bail. When you get to the end of your sentence and have a release date, expect to be released that morning.

Watonwan County Jail Visitation

To have visitors, you have to give each visitor’s full name to the Watonwan County Jail in advance of any visit. Your visitors will go into a log of visitors for the inmate. Each visitor is required to provide proof of identification. Anyone arriving late or that is not an approved visitor will not be allowed to attend visitation.

Visitation procedures frequently change, so make sure that you call the official Watonwan County Jail at (507) 375-1206 before you go to visitation.

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Visitation Rules

Before you can visit someone at the Watonwan County Jail you must be added to this person’s visitation list.

Be sure to bring your up to date government issued ID or driver’s license with you to visitation because you will not be allowed to enter without it.

No mobile phones at Watonwan County Jail, and you will be searched before you can visit. No personal belongings. Anybody under must obtain the permission of both the superintendent and their individual supervising officer before visiting. Usually is not going to be approved.

If a visitor is younger than 18 years of age is related to 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 a visitor is younger than 18 years old and is not related to 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 even magazines to an inmate at the Watonwan County Jail. Incoming and outgoing inmate mail at the Watonwan 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 Watonwan 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 Watonwan 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 access arrest warrants inquiry on the website or you can call the jail. You have to have their first and last name. You can also go to the local jail and inquire at the information desk. You should be clear that if you do have an outstanding warrant, they will take you into custody immediately.

Arrest Record Search

If you know the person’s first and last name, and possibly an arrest date, contact the jail, by phone, in person, or look online. Records of arrests are in the public record and this information is available to anyone.

Court Records

Court Records are considered public records, so they are accessible to anyone who requests them. They include a case file that includes a docket and any filings and documents filed in your court case. You are able to access court records online, or at Clerk of Court in the jurisdiction where the case was filed.

Criminal Records

Every state keeps a record of people’s criminal background. These state databases are connected so you are able to track criminal backgrounds from other states. Go to courthouse and check in person, or check the website. It is helpful to know the county the crime was committed in, and if the crime was in a different state, you may have to pay for a more intensive search.

A criminal history search you will be able to find out if a person has ever been arrested, charged or convicted for DWI or DUI, drug Possession, kidnapping, rape or other sexual assault, violent crimes including assault, battery and murder, or theft, breaking and entering.

Money & Commissary

The procedure to send funds to inmates at the Watonwan County Jail can change at any time, so you should double check the Watonwan County Jail website when you send funds to an inmate.

How To Send Money to an Inmate at Watonwan 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 Watonwan County Jail uses changes frequently, so it is best to call them at (507) 375-1206 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 Watonwan County Jail store. Inmates can buy different things here, such as personal items, food, and things for writing. Bear in mind that you will probably need to buy things from the commissary daily, 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 enough money in their trust account. These items include clothes, shoes, small snacks and other food items, as well as hygiene products such as 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

All phone calls from the Watonwan County Jail are with a pre-paid phone card or account, or are collect calls . Calls made in jail are typically pricier than phone calls made at home. Phone calls are restricted on when and how often you can use the phone, but inmates should keep in mind that a long line can form at the phones, because everyone wants to use the phone, too. If you break the rules, an inmate’s phone privileges could be reduced or eliminated completely.

Phone Number: (507) 375-1206

How To Save Money on Inmate Calls

Correctional facility phone service companies have exclusive contracts at each facility that they operate the phone services for, which means that they get to set the prices. The money these phone service providers make from 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 Watonwan County Jail. The rates are posted and there are at least two types of prices based on where the inmate is calling. The following three things will determine how much an inmate phone call will cost: 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 figuring out how to decrease 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 calling rate and in most cases is able to offer you an inmate calling number that will save you a lot of money on how much it costs you to call your inmate. There are some circumstances where we won’t be able to save you any money, and in these cases we will not offer you an inmate calling number. In these cases, the jail has set their inmate calling prices in a way that nobody can save you money.

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

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