Swift County Police Blotter Search
The Swift County Sheriff's Office in Benson serves as the primary law enforcement agency for the county, maintaining police blotter data, incident logs, arrest records, and jail information under Minnesota's Government Data Practices Act. This page covers how to find and request police blotter records, what data is public, and how the Swift County Sheriff handles records across the county's towns and townships.
Swift County Sheriff's Office
The Swift County Sheriff's Office is at the Swift County Law Enforcement Center, PO Box 96, Benson, MN 56215. The non-emergency line is 320-843-3133. The department covers all law enforcement functions for the county, including contracted services to the cities of Kerkhoven and Murdock. Staffing includes the Sheriff, a Chief Deputy, nine full-time deputies, two part-time deputies, one Emergency Management Director who also serves as a deputy, and a Jail and Dispatch Supervisor. On the corrections and communications side, the office has ten full-time officers and four part-time officers, along with two part-time jury attendants.
Tracy Koosman serves as Jail Administrator and can be reached at tracy.koosman@co.swift.mn.us. For records inquiries, call 320-843-3133. The Sheriff's Office does not operate a dedicated online records portal, so direct contact is the standard path for report requests.
Police Blotter Records and What They Include
The Swift County police blotter logs law enforcement activity across the county. Entries cover calls for service, arrests, traffic stops resulting in citations or charges, accident investigations, and reports of criminal incidents. Each entry typically includes the date, time, location, nature of the incident, and its disposition. The blotter is not a full case file. It is a summary log, and some details from individual cases may not appear until charges are filed or investigations are closed.
Minnesota law defines what must be disclosed. Under Minn. Stat. § 13.82, law enforcement agencies are required to make certain data available to the public. This includes the time, date, and location of calls for service, the nature of each incident, names of those arrested, and the charges filed. This is not optional. The law requires disclosure unless a specific statutory exemption applies. Active investigative data is one such exemption. While a criminal investigation is ongoing, that data is classified as confidential and shielded from disclosure under the same statute.
How to Request Records from the Sheriff's Office
To request police blotter entries or incident reports, call 320-843-3133. You can also write to Swift County Law Enforcement Center, PO Box 96, Benson, MN 56215. There is no online portal for record requests at this time. When you contact the office, be specific about what you need. Include the date, location, and any case number you have. The Jail and Dispatch Supervisor oversees records in addition to jail and dispatch operations, so staff may route your request through that office.
The general framework for how government data is classified and what agencies must do when someone requests it comes from Minn. Stat. § 13.03. Under that statute, if you ask for a record and the agency says it is not public, they must tell you in writing what law supports that decision. If you believe a record should be public and the agency disagrees, you can challenge the denial through the Minnesota Department of Administration's Data Practices Office.
Sheriff's Services Across Swift County
The Swift County Sheriff's Office handles a wide range of services beyond standard patrol. These include traffic enforcement, accident investigation, boating regulations, crime prevention, and investigative services for felony-level crimes. The investigative unit handles death investigations, juvenile issues, drug investigations, and welfare fraud cases. The office also processes civil matters including court orders and arrest warrants, administers the county jail, provides 911 emergency dispatch, and supplies court security and prisoner transport.
The Emergency Notifications system uses Regroup Mass Notifications to reach county residents during emergencies. If a major incident occurs, residents who have signed up for alerts can get messages directly from the Sheriff's Office. This is separate from the police blotter but connects to the same underlying data on public safety activity across the county.
Visit the Swift County Sheriff's Office website for department contact information, services, and public safety resources.
The Swift County Sheriff's website covers department divisions, staffing, and how to contact the right person for records, reports, or other inquiries.
Minnesota Law and Police Blotter Disclosure
Understanding the law makes it easier to know what to expect when you request records. The key statute for law enforcement data is Minn. Stat. § 13.82. It creates a specific public data category for law enforcement records. The statute covers not just arrest logs but also call-for-service data, which is the raw list of every time the agency responds to a report or request. This broader category is what many people mean when they talk about the police blotter.
The statute also sets limits. Data about active investigations, juvenile records, and certain sensitive victim information can be withheld. The agency has to apply the law accurately, keeping what is confidential while releasing what is public. If you are looking for records about a case that is still being investigated, expect that some of what you request will be withheld. Once charges are filed and the case moves into court, the data often becomes more accessible.
View Minn. Stat. § 13.82 on the Minnesota Revisor's website to see the full text of the law governing law enforcement data disclosure.
The statute sets out what law enforcement agencies must disclose, including police blotter data, call logs, and arrest records, and what categories of data agencies may withhold from public view.
Jail and Inmate Information
The Swift County Jail is administered by Tracy Koosman. Custody records, including who is currently held and on what charges, are public under Minnesota law. To get current inmate information, call the jail line at 320-843-3133. For wider inmate searches across Minnesota jails, the VINE system at vinelink.com tracks custody status for individuals held in county facilities statewide.
The jail handles bookings, transport to and from court, and day-to-day custody management. If you need information about a specific person in custody or the status of a recent booking, the Jail Administrator is the right contact.
Nearby Counties
Swift County borders several other counties in west-central Minnesota. If you need records from a neighboring jurisdiction, contact those offices directly.
Search Swift County Police Blotter Records
Use the tool below to look up Swift County police blotter entries and incident data. For records not returned here, call 320-843-3133 or write to Swift County Law Enforcement Center, PO Box 96, Benson, MN 56215.