The Detention Center
Bonneville County Jail
- Operated byBonneville County Sheriff's Office, Detention Division
- Address900 Environmental Way, Idaho Falls, ID 83402 (per Idaho Sheriffs' Association jail directory)
- ServesAmmon, Idaho Falls, Iona, Irwin, Ririe, Swan Valley, and Ucon
- CapacityCurrent operational capacity 533 beds
- OpenedNovember 1998 with an original 284-bed capacity, expanded over time
- ProgramsMedical Services, Food Services, Work Release, Work Detail, and the Wood Pilot problem-solving court program
- What was triedhttps://bonnevillesheriff.com/bonneville-county-jail/, https://www.idahosheriffs.org/jail-services/directory-of-idahos-jails/, http://www.co.bonneville.id.us/ (blocked — not accessible)
Source: Bonneville County Sheriff — Bonneville County Jail · checked 2026-08-24
Transparency rating
2/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✗Who is in custody — not published
- ✓Beds and daily population
- ✗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 — not published
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year built1998 (opened November 1998)
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds533 (current); originally 284
Since then
- Expanded from an original 284-bed capacity to 533 beds over time — no dates or costs published on the page checked
The Sheriff
Sheriff Sam Hulse
- Runs the jailYes — Bonneville County Sheriff's Office Detention Division operates the Bonneville County Jail
- How the office is filledElected; Idaho Sheriffs' Association lists him as elected 2020
- CorroborationName also appears on a third-party directory site (bonnevillecountyjailid.org), consistent with the Idaho Sheriffs' Association listing
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Idaho Sheriffs' Association — Meet Idaho's Sheriffs · checked 2026-08-24
The Judges
Idaho judges are state officers, not county officials. District Court judges serve the judicial district; Magistrate Court judges are appointed by a district magistrates commission and then face retention election. No judge names were found on sources checked for this county.
- 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 →
Notes on the record
- The official Bonneville County government site could not be reached in this session, so commissioners, courts, and county-seat confirmation rely on the Sheriff's Office site and the Idaho Sheriffs' Association.
- The jail page is run by the Sheriff's Office (bonnevillesheriff.com), not a co.bonneville.id.us county page, though it functions as the primary public source for the jail.
- Not found — the official Bonneville County government site (co.bonneville.id.us) could not be accessed in this session; no commissioners page was confirmed
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Bonneville 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