Custer County

The Detention Center

Not found

• Operated byCuster County Sheriff's Office (Detentions Division)
• Detentions staffDetention Sergeant Mike Dickinson; Deputy Mel Vanderhoff
• Services describedThe Sheriff's Office 'Jail Services' page lists Court Security, Monitored Sobriety, and Administrative Fingerprinting as ongoing Jail Team functions, without giving the facility a distinct proper name
• What was triedcustercounty-co.gov and custersheriff.colorado.gov (both official sites) — neither names a distinct jail facility beyond referring to the Sheriff's Office 'Jail'/'Detentions' function

Source: Custer County Sheriff's Office — Services · checked 2026-08-24

• ✗The jail is named — not published
• ✗Who is in custody — not published
• ✗Beds and daily population — not published
• ✗What it costs taxpayers — not published
• ✗Deaths in custody — not published
• ✗PREA audits — not published
• ✗Independent inspection — not published
• ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
• ✓How to post bond
• ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Custer County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked 2026-08-24. Nothing here says the jail is run well or badly. Every mark moves the moment the county posts the document.

The Building

You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.

• Year builtNot found
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byNot found
• BedsNot found

The Sheriff

Sheriff Rich Smith

• Runs the jailYes — the Sheriff's Office maintains a staffed 'Detentions' division
• UndersheriffPhillip Ditto
• How the office is filledElected; Colorado county sheriffs are elected except in Denver and Broomfield
• Office address702 Rosita Ave, Westcliffe, CO 81252

Source: Custer County Sheriff's Office — Meet the Staff · checked 2026-08-24

The Judges

Colorado judges are appointed through a judicial nominating commission and then face retention elections; they are state judicial officers, not county officials. Custer shares its 11th Judicial District district-court bench with Chaffee, Park and Fremont counties.

Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-08-24

The County Commissioners

They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.

• What they controlThe detention budget, the building itself, and the agreements that let other agencies rent its beds.
• What they don'tDay-to-day operations. The sheriff is separately elected and answers to voters, not to the board.
• The boardBoard of County Commissioners →
• Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →