Minnesota DOC Release Outcomes
A Clearwater County prosecution can lead to state custody when the district court commits a person to the Commissioner of Corrections. The Clearwater County Jail roster may then drop the county booking because the sheriff is no longer the custodian. That is a commitment and transfer, not a release to the community. MN DOC chooses the state facility, and the assigned location can change during the sentence.
When prison confinement ends, the person commonly starts supervised release. Supervised release means the person lives outside prison while remaining under DOC authority and conditions for the rest of the applicable term. The Minnesota DOC Public Viewer may therefore show a person who has left a prison but is still under supervision. Final discharge is different. It ends the sentence and DOC jurisdiction, and the Viewer is not promised as a permanent historical archive after that point.
The custody sequence should remain clear: Clearwater court commitment → MN DOC intake and placement → prison release → supervised release when applicable → sentence expiration or final discharge. The Clearwater County Jail record establishes the local transfer. The state record establishes later prison status. Court records remain the durable source for the case and sentence.
The county lists Sheriff Darin Halverson as the local sheriff as of the research date. His office controls the county custody side of a commitment, while MN DOC controls intake, placement, prison release, and state supervision records. That division determines where a requester should direct each question.
| Status | Meaning | Best source |
|---|---|---|
| Committed to MN DOC | County custody ends and state custody begins | Court judgment, sheriff event, Public Viewer |
| In a state facility | Physical prison confinement continues | MN DOC Public Viewer |
| Under supervision | Prison confinement ended, DOC jurisdiction continues | Public Viewer and DOC supervision contacts |
| Final discharge | Sentence and DOC jurisdiction ended | DOC record and court file |
Confirm Minnesota DOC Releases
The official gateway is the MN DOC Search for Individuals and Fugitives, which leads to the Public Viewer. It covers people committed to the Commissioner who remain under DOC jurisdiction, whether confined in prison or released from prison and still supervised. It is not the Clearwater jail roster. It also is not a complete list of all county probation cases or a permanent history of every person once discharged.
Search by MNDOC Offender ID when possible. A name search supports first and last name, uses prefix matching, and may search former last names. A newly committed person can take several business days to appear, so a gap between the county booking and the state result may reflect intake rather than release.
- Enter the MNDOC Offender ID for the most precise search, or use first and last name if the ID is unknown.
- Open the matching record and verify identifying details, the Clearwater sentence, and the current status before relying on the result.
- Read facility, supervision, release-date, and sentence-expiration fields together. A future date is not proof that release occurred.
- Use Minnesota Haven for state-prison custody and release notices. County-jail VINE is a different service.
- If the person is no longer displayed or more history is needed, use the Clearwater court file and request public records from MN DOC.
Minnesota DOC Release Fields
Field availability differs by offender and sentence. The public record can include the MNDOC Offender ID, identity details, current status, facility, supervising location, sentence data, an actual release entry, the exact label “Anticipated Release Date,” and an expiration date. Never assume that every record contains every item. Use the labels displayed on the live result and distinguish an estimate from a completed event.
| Public Viewer field | How to read it |
|---|---|
| MNDOC Offender ID | Primary state identifier for matching and later records requests |
| Facility or status | Shows whether state confinement is active or a community status is displayed |
| Anticipated Release Date | Prospective date that may change; not an actual exit time |
| Under Supervision | Prison confinement has ended while DOC jurisdiction continues |
| Expiration Date | Sentence or jurisdiction endpoint, distinct from prison release |
A manifest-approved image captures an official public MN DOC detail example. View the source Public Viewer record to compare its date labels and current status.
The image shows why anticipated release, expiration, and present supervision must be read as separate facts rather than one general release date.
Note: A Public Viewer match confirms state-system information only; it does not independently prove the earlier physical exit from Clearwater County Jail.
Clearwater DOC Release Timing
Minnesota is not an ordinary “serve about 85 percent” state. For an ordinary fixed executed felony sentence tied to an offense committed on or after August 1, 1993, Minnesota Statutes §§ 244.01 and 244.101 generally divide the term into two-thirds imprisonment and one-third supervised release. Exceptions and adjustments can apply. Section 244.05 addresses supervised release and disciplinary confinement, while the Minnesota Rehabilitation and Reinvestment Act adds earned-incentive concepts for eligible participants.
The Anticipated Release Date is a planning field. Discipline, sentence changes, release decisions, holds, and other lawful adjustments can change it. It should not be described as an actual release time. Once the record shows that prison confinement ended and the person is under supervision, that status supports a prison-release finding while also showing that DOC control continues.
- Anticipated release
- A future state estimate that can change before the person leaves confinement.
- Supervised release
- The community portion of a prison sentence under DOC rules and authority.
- Disciplinary confinement
- Added prison time that can result from a disciplinary sanction under governing law.
- Final discharge
- The end of the sentence and DOC jurisdiction, not merely the day prison confinement ends.
The Clearwater County Release Date Lookup provides the fuller calculation path for projected dates. Always return to the live state record because future dates can move.
County-jail VINE should not be used as the prison alert system after a Clearwater commitment. Minnesota Haven is the state service for custody and release notifications involving MN DOC. A county VINE event may document the end of the sheriff's custody, while Haven follows the later prison stage. Changing systems at the transfer point avoids treating a county departure as return to the community.
Minnesota DOC Release Records
When the Public Viewer lacks enough history, ask for the public portions of records MN DOC already maintains. Useful fields include the actual release date and type, facility released from, supervision start and end, sentence expiration or final discharge, and a releasable identification or intake photograph. The request should include the MNDOC Offender ID, recorded name, and the relevant Clearwater County case when known.
The MN DOC Data Practices page explains that government data is presumed public unless another classification applies. DOC need not create, calculate, or rearrange data that it does not maintain. Inspection of public data is free. The current form states that copies may cost $0.25 per page or the actual expense of retrieval, copying, and delivery. The cited page does not promise a fixed turnaround.
MN DOC Records Management
1450 Energy Park Drive
St. Paul, MN 55108
Phone: 651-361-7330
Fax: 612-473-5006
Email: CO-Records.DOC@state.mn.us
Corrections data can include private medical, psychological, financial, security, victim, or investigative information. Ask for segregable public portions and allow DOC to apply the relevant classifications. A state intake image is not necessarily the sheriff's arrest booking photograph, so name the image type accurately.
Clearwater DOC Discharge History
A final discharge may remove the person from the group the Viewer is designed to cover. That makes Minnesota Court Records Online and certified court documents important for older Clearwater County cases. The Clearwater County District Court is the local court source. Search by the correct person and county case, then inspect charges and dispositions, events and orders, judgment, and sentencing documents. Older records, sealed files, and documents not available for remote access may require a courthouse terminal or copy request.
A court judgment establishes the sentence, but it may not record the exact time someone left a prison. The DOC movement and release record supplies that custody detail. Conversely, a DOC status does not replace the legal record of conviction, sentence, modification, or expungement. The two sources answer different parts of the same history.
Use the MNDOC Offender ID in a records request when it is available, and include the Clearwater court file number to reduce ambiguity. Ask DOC for fields it maintains rather than a new summary. If only part of a custody record is public, request the public portion and the classification used for any withheld part. This keeps the inquiry tied to an actual state release or discharge event.
If the commitment started at the county jail, the Clearwater County Jail release and transfer page explains how to document the handoff into state custody. The county event should not be called community release when the receiving authority is MN DOC.
Note: No Minnesota state prison is located in Clearwater County, so a current facility name must come from MN DOC rather than local geography.