by April Scheinoha
Editor
The Pennington County Jail continues to incarcerate inmates from other counties. At its meeting Monday, Nov. 10, the Pennington County Board approved a contract to incarcerate Lake of the Woods County inmates.
As part of the agreement retroactive to Sept. 1, 2025 and spanning until Sept. 1, 2026, Lake of the Woods County will pay for three daily beds at $70 per bed, per day. It will pay $150 per day, per inmate, for those with a special needs classification. Those classifications include such things as “suicide watch, hunger strike, increased medical and mental health observations as determined by the nursing team, and behavioral issues that require increased observations.”
In an interview with The Times, Pennington County Sheriff Seth Vettleson indicated that, to the best of his knowledge, the Lake of the Woods County Jail may hold inmates for up to 72 hours.
Pennington County also holds inmates on behalf of Beltrami, Kittson and Marshall counties. Vettleson believed that Beltrami County has a limit on the number of inmates it can house at its jail and that the Kittson County Jail is a 90-day facility. Marshall County is in the process of remodeling its jail.