The Detention Center
Not found
- Operated byPosey County Sheriff's Office
- What the county calls it"jail/confinement center" (no proper name given)
- Address1201 O'Donnell Road, Mt. Vernon, IN 47620
- Completed2018
- Capacity208 inmates
- Phone(812) 838-1321, option 1 for jail
Source: Posey County Government — Sheriff's Office · checked 2026-09-20
Transparency rating
1/10Closed- ✗The jail is named — not published
- ✗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 built2018
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds208
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Tom Latham
- 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 Deputy (county site)Jeremy Fortune
- Office address1201 O'Donnell Road, Mt. Vernon, IN 47620
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Posey County Government — 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.
Posey 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). No commissioners or council page was opened.
- The boardPosey County Board of Commissioners
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- County sheriff page: "The current jail/confinement center was completed in 2018." and "The center is capable of housing 208 inmates."
- Sheriff Tom Latham and Chief Deputy Jeremy Fortune are named on the county's sheriff page.
- The page gives no proper name for the jail, so 'named' is recorded as no.
- No roster, bond, fee, PREA or inspection material on the page opened.
- Seat (Mount Vernon) from Wikipedia.
- 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 Posey 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