Houston County Recent Arrests

Houston County recent arrests are processed and kept by the Houston County Sheriff's Office in Caledonia, which runs the county jail for this small southeastern Minnesota county that borders both Wisconsin and Iowa. If you need to find out whether someone is in custody right now, or you want to look up past booking records, the Sheriff's Office is the place to start, and the VINELink statewide tool lets you search without making a call.

Houston County Sheriff's Office

The Houston County Sheriff's Office is at 304 S Marshall Street in Caledonia, the county seat. The office handles patrol, investigations, civil process, and full jail operations for this rural county in the bluff country of southeastern Minnesota. If you want to ask about a recent arrest, get a copy of an arrest report, or confirm whether someone is in custody, this is the agency to contact. Records staff is available during regular business hours on weekdays.

The jail runs around the clock every day of the week. For jail questions such as inmate location, visitation, and bond procedures, call 507-725-3378 directly. Houston County is smaller than most, so in-person visits to the Caledonia office tend to be quick and staff can often help you on the spot during business hours. Written data requests submitted by fax to 507-725-3139 also work well.

The VINELink statewide inmate search covers Houston County and lets you look up anyone currently in custody by name or offender ID, and sign up for notifications when their custody status changes.

VINELink is free to use and works any time of day. It is one of the simplest ways to check custody status for Houston County bookings without calling the jail.

Houston County Jail Roster and Recent Arrests

The Houston County Jail sits at the same address as the Sheriff's Office at 304 S Marshall Street in Caledonia. The facility holds both pre-trial detainees and sentenced inmates. For custody questions, call 507-725-3378 and ask for the jail. Staff can confirm whether someone is currently booked and provide basic information about their charges and status.

Houston County does not maintain a publicly searchable online jail roster. For real-time custody data, VINELink at vinelink.com is the most reliable free option. Search by name or offender ID. VINELink also lets you register for automatic alerts by phone, text, or email when a person's custody status changes. The service costs nothing and is available at all hours. This is useful when you need to know about a release without calling the jail every day.

How to Find Recent Arrests in Houston County

If you need to find a recent arrest in Houston County, the most direct path is calling the jail at 507-725-3378. Have the full name of the person ready, and include the approximate date of arrest if you know it. For copies of arrest or incident reports, reach out to the records division at the same number during business hours. You can submit a request in person at the Caledonia office, by phone, or by fax to 507-725-3139.

Once an arrest leads to court charges, the case becomes searchable through the Minnesota Judicial Branch at mncourts.gov. The court search shows case numbers, charges filed, hearing dates, and current case status for filings in the Houston County courthouse. A court record is not the same as an arrest report, but it shows what happened after the booking and what charges were formally brought. This is often enough for most public records searches.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension handles full state-level criminal history requests. Their records portal at dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca covers arrests and case outcomes from all Minnesota law enforcement agencies, including the Houston County Sheriff's Office. A BCA record is the most complete source if you need a person's full history across multiple counties or multiple incidents over years. Requests require a fee and identifying information about the subject.

Note: Records requests submitted to the Houston County Sheriff's Office are processed under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. The agency must respond within 10 business days of a written request.

Public Access to Houston County Arrest Records

Arrest records in Houston County are public under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. Under Minnesota Statutes Section 13.82, law enforcement agencies must release booking data to anyone who requests it. The information that must be made public includes the arrested person's name, age, home city, the date of the arrest, the charges filed, and the arresting agency. You do not need to give a reason for requesting this data, and you do not need to be a party to the case.

Some data can be withheld. If a record is tied to an active investigation, the agency may hold it back to protect the case. Juvenile records are not public as a general rule. Under Minnesota Statutes Section 13.85, certain investigative data is classified as protected. For standard adult arrest data in Houston County, the law defaults to open access and the Sheriff's Office must respond to data requests in a timely way.

Criminal History and Warrant Information

To check for an outstanding warrant in Houston County, start with the court case search at mncourts.gov. When a judge issues a warrant, the court record is updated to show that. The full warrant document is not posted publicly, but the court entry confirms one was issued in a specific case. That is usually enough to verify whether a warrant exists for a given person in Houston County.

For a broader picture of someone's criminal history in Minnesota, contact the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The BCA keeps the statewide criminal history system and can pull records covering all Minnesota counties. You can also search the Minnesota Predatory Offender Registry at por.state.mn.us for registered offenders connected to Houston County. The Department of Corrections offender search at coms.doc.state.mn.us shows anyone currently in state prison or on post-release supervision.

Cities in Houston County

All arrests made within Houston County cities are processed through the Houston County Jail in Caledonia. The county seat of Caledonia is the largest city and home to the Sheriff's Office and courthouse. Other communities include La Crescent, Spring Grove, Houston, and Hokah. None of the cities in Houston County meet the population threshold for a dedicated city arrests page on this site.

Nearby Counties

If the arrest you are looking for did not happen in Houston County, check the neighboring counties. Each has its own Sheriff's Office and jail.