The Detention Center
None — Hinsdale County operates no jail
- Operated byn/a
- Where prisoners goThe Board of County Commissioners took up an intergovernmental agreement with Gunnison County and the Gunnison County Sheriff for inmate housing services
- Source of that findingHinsdale County BOCC workshop and meeting agenda, 19 November 2025
- DispatchNon-emergency dispatch for the Sheriff's Office is Gunnison Dispatch
- What was triedhttps://hinsdalecounty.colorado.gov/sheriff-6, https://hinsdalecounty.colorado.gov/administration-office and https://hinsdalecounty.colorado.gov/financial-information-19 were checked; no jail, roster, bond or fee page exists on the county site
Source: Hinsdale County BOCC agenda, 11/19/2025 · checked 2026-08-24
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year builtNot applicable — no county jail
- Original costNot applicable — no county jail
- Paid for byNot applicable — no county jail
- BedsNot applicable — no county jail
Since then
- Not applicable — no county jail
The Sheriff
Sheriff Denim Starnes
- Runs the jailNo county jail — Hinsdale County does not operate a detention facility
- How the office is filledElected county sheriff
- Office address311 North Henson St., Box 127, Lake City, CO 81235
- Sworn staff publishedSheriff Denim Starnes, Deputy Dan Strausbaugh, Office Manager Bobbi McDonald
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Hinsdale County — Sheriff · checked 2026-08-24
The Judges
Colorado judges are appointed by the Governor from a list submitted by a judicial nominating commission and then face retention elections. District and county court judges are state judicial officers, not county officials. The county court judge normally sets bond at first appearance.
7th Judicial District — District Court Chief Judge
- D. Cory Jackson
7th Judicial District — District Court Judges
- Steven L. Schultz
- Kellie Starritt
- Keri A. Yoder
- Laura E. H. Harvell
- Matthew G. Margeson
Hinsdale County Court Judge
- James R. McDonald
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to first appearance
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 →
Notes on the record
- Hinsdale County holds no prisoners of its own. Its commissioners considered an inmate housing services IGA with Gunnison County and the Gunnison County Sheriff (BOCC agenda, 11/19/2025). That is the finding, not a gap.
- All ten checks are recorded as no because there is no county jail to publish about.
- budget: the county does publish final budgets for 2022-2025 and audited financial statements for 2020-2024 at https://hinsdalecounty.colorado.gov/financial-information-19. The 2025 final budget shows a transfer from the General Fund to the Sheriff for operating of $530,000, but there is no corrections or detention budget, so the check is no.
- The Sheriff's Office also runs a separate site at hinsdalecountysheriff.com; it lists Sheriff Denim W. Starnes and carries no jail, roster or bond information either. It is not the county's own domain and is not counted for the checks.
- Board of County Commissioners — Greg Levine (District 1, Chair, term to 2028), Kristine Borchers (District 2, term to 2026), Robert Hurd (District 3, term to 2028). The Board usually meets the first and third Wednesday of the month, with a workshop at 8:30 a.m. and the regular meeting at 10 a.m., in the Coursey Annex, Lake City. No dedicated jail or detention sales-tax levy was found.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Hinsdale County and what it costs the people who live here. Nationally, almost 77% of the people who died in local jails in 2019 had not been convicted of anything, and suicide was the leading single cause of those deaths (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2019).
How much is your sheriff — and your judge — costing you?
Your VOTE is POWERFUL.
The sheriff who runs this jail is elected. So are the commissioners who pay for it.
Names verified 2026-08-24 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered