The Detention Center
Porter County Jail
- Operated byPorter County Sheriff's Office (Jail Division)
- Address2755 State Road 49, Valparaiso, IN 46383 (shared Sheriff / Jail)
- Jail Division phone219.477.3050
- Jail Master Control24/7 except 11:30am-12:30pm and 5:30pm-6:30pm
Source: Porter County Sheriff's Office · checked 2026-09-20
Transparency rating
2/10Closed- ✓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 — not published
- ✗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 Jeffrey A. Balon
- Runs the jailYes — the sheriff keeps the county jail (IC 36-2-13-5)
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term; no more than eight years in any twelve
- Chief (sheriff's site)Timothy Manteuffel
- Office address2755 State Road 49, Valparaiso IN 46383
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Porter 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.
Porter 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).
- NoteIndiana counties have a three-member Board of County Commissioners and a seven-member County Council (fiscal body). The county site offers agendas and minutes (CivicClerk portal) but no commissioners page was opened.
- The boardPorter County Board of Commissioners
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- Sheriff's site names Sheriff Jeffrey A. Balon and offers an 'Inmate Search' of 'inmates in the Porter County Jail system'; the search itself was not opened.
- County staff directory lists a combined 'Sheriff / Jail' at 2755 State Road 49, Valparaiso, with no staff names.
- No capacity, bond, fee, PREA or inspection material was visible on the pages opened; deeper sheriff pages were not reachable (no links surfaced).
- County government is at 155 Indiana Avenue, Valparaiso; courthouse at 16 E. Lincolnway.
- 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 Porter 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