Commander Sheila Larson opened the door to a padded room with a mattress on the floor, a makeshift holding cell for inmates in a severe mental health crisis.
“This is not a cell intended for that,” Larson, with the Sheriff’s Office, said while standing inside the 40-year-old Anoka County jail. She explained that such inmates would ideally be in a normal living unit with mental health support and access to medical staff.
“But this is all we have, especially when we’re full.”
Anoka County officials have pushed to build a new jail for several years, one that would house a dedicated mental health unit and increase capacity from 240 to 540 beds. Officials say the jail is far too small and falling apart. Staff report regular water pipe breaks. When the jail is overcrowded, inmates sleep on cots in hallways or the gym.

But plans for a larger jail have stalled as the county is locked in a stalemate with city leaders, who would need to sign off on the project but worry it would encroach on their historic downtown. Meanwhile, construction costs are rising and the county wants to issue bonds for work in 2025, pressuring officials to finally compromise.
City leaders have drawn a line, saying the county must either downsize the proposed jail or move it out of town. The city successfully lobbied state lawmakers to get permission to move the jail outside the county seat.
Many county officials stand firm that the new jail must be attached to the downtown courthouse and near public transportation, saying relocation would raise costs. The proposed facility would sit where the parking garage is on Jackson Street and extend north, requiring the city to close off part of Van Buren Street.

“With a building of that scale in that location, I think there’s a real risk of changing the dynamic of what downtown Anoka is,” said Erik Skogquist, incoming Anoka mayor.