The Detention Center
Fulton County Jail
- Operated byFulton County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address2006 Sweetgum Road, Rochester, IN 46975
- Phone574-224-5630
- Opened (trade press)New sheriff's office and detention center, ribbon cutting late September 2021
- Beds (trade press)230: 198 housing pod, 12 inmate workers, 20 intake/holding
- Architect (trade press)Elevatus Architecture
- Previous jail (trade press)Dated to 1985
- Jail AdministratorCathi Collins — Jail Commander (assistant jail commander: Marty Eihlinger)
Source: Fulton County website, Jail Division · checked 2026-09-20
Transparency rating
1/10Closed- ✓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 — not published
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year built2021 (Building Excellence trade article, Dec 2021: https://acppubs.com/BE/article/E5E8B902-fulton-county-opens-new-sheriff-s-office-and-detention-center)
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds230 (same trade article; not published on county site)
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Travis Heishman
- Runs the jailYes — Indiana sheriffs keep the county jail (IC 36-2-13-5)
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term; no more than eight years in any twelve
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Fulton County website, Sheriff's Office staff directory · 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.
Fulton 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).
- NoteCommissioners, council and minutes pages were not opened.
- The boardFulton County Board of Commissioners
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- County Jail Division page names the Fulton County Jail and links pages for mail, phone, trust fund and visitation; inmate data is offered through the sheriff's mobile app.
- Bed count and 2021 opening come from a trade-press article, not the county, so capacity is not credited.
- What was tried: county Inmate Phone Service and Inmate Trust Fund pages refused (PROVENANCE_REQUIRED); an in.gov/dhs PDF on the Law Enforcement Center had no readable text.
- 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 Fulton 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