In the 1950s and 1960s, Neil Haugerud served as sheriff of Fillmore County in southeastern Minnesota. In Jailhouse Stories, Haugerud describes what it was like to live next to a prison, where jailbirds and jailbreaks were part of family life. We meet colorful people on both sides of the law, whose problems range from the ordinary to the offbeat to the downright bizarre. In the end, Haugerud emerges with his faith in human nature intact.