Jefferson County, Indiana — The Jail, the Sheriff, the Judges

The Detention Center

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Jail Division

Operated byJefferson County Sheriff's Office
Jail address300 East Main Street, Madison, IN 47250
Opened2023 (page describes a modern, state-of-the-art facility)
StaffingCorrectional officers, supervisors, administrative staff and contracted medical professionals
Jail Commander812-274-3962 ext. 1201 (name not given)
Medical co-pays$7.50 to $15

Source: Jefferson County — Jail Division · checked 2026-09-20

Transparency rating

3/10Closed

✓The jail is named
✓Who is in custody
✗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 Jefferson County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked 2026-09-20. 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 built2023 (opened)
Original costNot found
Paid for byNot found
BedsNot found

Since then

Not found

The Sheriff

Sheriff Ben Flint

Runs the jailYes — the Jail Division is part of the Sheriff's Office
How the office is filledElected, four-year term
Chief DeputyLaura Pickel
Office address1150 JA Berry Lane, Madison, IN 47250

Still needed

Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail

Source: Jefferson County — Sheriff's Office · 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.

Jefferson County Circuit Court

Not found

Still needed

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).
NoteIndiana counties have a three-member Board of County Commissioners and a seven-member County Council (fiscal body). The county home page could not be opened, so members and minutes were not recorded.
The boardJefferson County Board of Commissioners
Where the jail money is decidedNot found

Notes on the record

County site names the jail and links an in-custody roster on the county's Zuercher portal (jefferson-911-in.zuercherportal.com).
Bond guidance: before the initial hearing, bond can be paid 24/7 in cash at the jail; after the initial hearing at the Clerk's Office ($5 fee); bonds over $10,000 at the Clerk's Office by debit/credit card; photo ID required.
Only medical co-pay amounts ($7.50–$15) are published; phone, video-visit and commissary rates are not, so fees is 'no'.
No bed count, PREA, deaths, inspection copy or contracts found on the pages opened.
Madison is the county seat; the cited page shows the sheriff's office there but does not itself state the seat.
What was tried: county home page and /312/Visitation 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 Jefferson 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