Jail

While Minnesota was still only ranked 48th for highest imprisonment rate in 2016, the state was one of four to increase its prison population by more than 10 percent between 2010 and 2015, according to the Sentencing Project.

Richard Anthony Balsimo, 32, of St. Paul has been charged in Becker County District Court with felony fifth-degree controlled substance crime. According to court records, on Dec. 29, as he was being released from the Becker County Jail, a correctional officer allegedly saw a small...

You know what's sad about the upper Midwest? I scroll through the paper, not regularly but quite often, and check the jail roster periodically. Let me guess — the new jail must be open, because by the time I got to the third letter in the alphabet, C, as a last name I was done...

As Becker County begins work on next year's budget, several major projects will be front and center—funding for the new jail and a major airport improvement project. The county will begin construction of the $20 million, 186 bed jail facility later this summer. Bonds to finance...

Anthony Paul Morey, 36, of Box 423, Audubon, has been sentenced in Becker County District Court for felony terroristic threats — reckless disregard for risk. A felony second-degree burglary charge and two misdemeanor domestic abuse charges were dropped in a plea agreement. According...

Clarissa Anne Dahren, 45, of 36594 County Road 46, Park Rapids has been charged in Becker County District Court with two felony counts of fifth-degree controlled substance crime. According to court records, she was arrested on an outstanding warrant Dec. 18, and during processing...

Lacey Rose Rousu-Hanks, 23, of 30175 County Road 21, Callaway, has been charged in Becker County District Court with felony fifth-degree controlled substance crime and a gross misdemeanor charge of introducing contraband into jail. According to court records, on Nov. 17 she allegedly...

The Osage Sportman's Club dodged a bullet Tuesday as Becker County Commissioners approved an after-the-fact conditional use permit for tree removal within the Shoreland District. The County Board voted 4-1 (with Commissioner Ben Grimsley dissenting) to concur with the unanimous decision...

The average daily population of inmates at the Becker County Jail, and the minimum-security workhouse, has increased by 25 percent over the past five years, from 60 inmates to 82 inmates, an increase of 22 inmates. “We had 29 boarded-out yesterday,” Becker County Sheriff Todd...

A big influx of inmates over the last year or two is upending plans by Becker County to build the new maximum security jail on the site of the existing jail at the courthouse, rather than a new site, likely on the edge of town. The latest wrinkle involves staffing for a new jail if...

Phase 1 of the jail project may have an architect soon. Tuesday, the Becker County Board of Commissioners voted to approve Klein McCarthy Architects for the first phase, which will include extensive review of the feasibility of constructing the new jail in the current spot or elsewhere. Phase...

Becker County commissioners are pleased with the request for qualifications they received from contractors for the upcoming jail project. The next step is to narrow the field down to two. The county has narrow the site options down to two — the existing jail site or the industrial...