The Detention Center
Bartholomew County Jail
- Operated byBartholomew County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address543 Second Street, Columbus, Indiana
- Inmate information line812-379-1750 option 2
- Visitation / phonesHomeWav
- Commissaryaccesscorrections.com
- Jail AdministratorCaptain Justin Arnholt — Jail Commander
Source: Bartholomew County Sheriff page · checked 2026-09-20
Transparency rating
2/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✗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
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
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Chris Lane
- Runs the jailYes — the sheriff keeps the county jail (IC 36-2-13-5)
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term
- Took officeSworn in 30 December 2022 as the county's 59th sheriff
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Bartholomew County Sheriff page · checked 2026-09-20
The Judges
Indiana circuit and superior court judges are state judicial officers, not county officials. In most counties they are elected to six-year terms; a few counties choose some judges through a nominating commission followed by retention votes.
Bartholomew County Circuit Court
- Not found
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to first appearance
Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-09-20
The Commissioners and County Council
They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.
- What they controlThe three county commissioners own and maintain the jail building and sign its contracts; the seven-member county council adopts the budget and appropriates the jail's money.
- What they don'tDay-to-day operations. The sheriff is separately elected and keeps the jail by state law (IC 36-2-13-5).
- NoteThree-member Board of Commissioners plus seven-member County Council (fiscal body). County Meeting Center page could not be opened (PROVENANCE_REQUIRED).
- The boardBartholomew County Board of Commissioners
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- Sheriff page says cash bonds are accepted at the Clerk's Office Mon-Fri 8 AM-5 PM and at the jail after 5 PM; the jail takes cash and credit-card bonds.
- Sheriff page lists downloadable annual reports (2015-2019, 2021), a 2018 BCSO budget and a 2018 jail budget, but these files could not be opened (PROVENANCE_REQUIRED), so budget/capacity checks stay unverified.
- No inmate roster, PREA, fee-rate or inspection material found on the sheriff page.
- What was tried: 2018 jail budget PDF, 2021 annual report PDF, and county Meeting Center page were refused (PROVENANCE_REQUIRED).
- State inspection/oversight: IDOC Jail Services inspects annually (IC 11-12-4); reports are public record on request but not posted by the state. None found on the county's own site.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Bartholomew 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 and council members who pay for it.
Names verified 2026-09-20 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered