Yellow Medicine County Jail Inmate Search

Yellow Medicine County was established on March 6, 1871, by legislative law. The Yellow Medicine Courthouse was erected in 1894, around the same time the county jail was built. Today, the county jail is a 55,600-square-foot facility. The Yellow Medicine County Jail serves the city of Granite Falls and other smaller towns in Yellow Medicine County. The Sheriff's office is the chief law enforcement officials in the county of Yellow Medicine. The Sheriff is elected and serves a four-year term. The Sheriff’s Office policies 21 different townships that expands over 750 square miles.

There are two historical events that this jail is well known for that stands out among the other incidents that happened at the prison. A Granite Falls inmate died of an apparent suicide at the Yellow Medicine County Jail on Sunday, August 9th, 2011. The Yellow Medicine County Sheriff’s office stated a correction officer on duty found Shane Dean Hildahl age 37, unresponsive shortly before 2:00 a.m.

The Yellow Medicine County Sheriff’s Department stated a correction officer on duty found Hildahl. The detainee had been alone in his cell and was last checked on by the corrections officer at around 1:30 a.m. Hildahl had used the bed sheets on his bed to hang himself with. The corrections officer who discovered the inmate immediately called for assistance from the Granite Falls Police Department, and an ambulance had arrived at the officers' request. An autopsy was conducted by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner. Hildahl was arrested and charged with a felony charge of the second-degree drug sale, and a misdemeanor charge of imparting to the need for child protection days early. Hildahl had been in court for a settlement conference on his case.

A Department of Corrections crew leader that was employed at the Yellow Medicine County Jail, Michael John Martin age 48, of Wood Lake, was sentenced to four years in jail for coercing a female prisoner into having a sexual relationship with him in return for favors.

Martin was sentenced on May 3rd, 2017, on one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct by a correctional employee at the Yellow Medicine County District Court on one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct by a correctional employee. Martin argued that the woman made advances toward him first. Martin allegedly gave the inmate privileges and favors such as soda pop, cigarettes, and visits with her children in exchange for the sexual act. The inmate worked under Martin's supervision. The sexual crime took place between August 2016 and May of 2017. One of the sexual encounters took place in the program's van while the vehicle was parked off on the side of the road, and the other sexual encounter were at different locations.