The Detention Center
Not found
- Operated byLinn County Sheriff's Office, per K.S.A. 19-811
- Current facilityOriginally constructed in 1978 and partially renovated in 2006, per the county's Justice and Government Center project site; the site describes the facility's deficiencies as not cost-effective to repair
- Inmate rosterPublished on the county's own site at linncountyks.com/departments/sheriff/current-inmates, showing inmate number, name, booking date/time, bond amount, race/gender/age and charges; as read, it listed 18 current inmates out of a stated 'Total Inmate Population: 67,' last updated September 11, 2024
- Video visitationScheduled through the third-party vendor inmatesales.com, 24 hours in advance; no rate/fee information found on the county's own site
- Proposed replacementA proposed Linn County Justice and Government Center would build a new 68-96 bed jail across Main Street on county-owned land, moving the Sheriff's Department and jail there and demolishing the existing jail for parking; funding is proposed through a county sales tax increase pending voter approval, with no cost, bed-mix or timeline given beyond the 68-96 bed range
Source: Linn County Justice and Government Center project site · checked 2026-09-17
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
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year built1978 (current facility); renovated 2006
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found for the current facility; a proposed replacement jail would be funded through a proposed county sales tax increase, pending voter approval
- BedsNot found for the current facility. A proposed new Justice and Government Center jail would have 68-96 beds; not yet built.
Since then
- 1978 original construction
- 2006 renovation
- Proposed Linn County Justice and Government Center replacement jail (68-96 beds), pending voter approval on funding — not yet built
The Sheriff
Sheriff James Akes
- TitleLinn County Sheriff
- Runs the jailYes, as statutory jailer under K.S.A. 19-811
- Office address308 Main St., Suite 103, Mound City, KS 66056
- Office phone(913) 795-2665
- Office hours8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, per the county's own site
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Linn County — Sheriff's Office · checked 2026-09-17
The Judges
Kansas decides judicial selection district by district under Kan. Const. Art. 3 §6 and K.S.A. 20-2901. In most rural Kansas counties the district magistrate judge sets bail (K.S.A. 20-302b). The 6th Judicial District has adopted the nonpartisan method: a local nominating commission of lawyers and non-lawyers sends the Governor a list of names, the Governor appoints, and the judge then faces retention votes. Kansas districts choose this by ballot under K.S.A. 20-2901; partisan election is the default they opted out of.
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to first appearance
Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-09-17
The County Commissioners
They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.
- What they controlThe detention budget, the building itself, and the agreements that let other agencies rent its beds.
- What they don'tDay-to-day operations. The sheriff is separately elected and answers to voters, not to the board.
- The boardBoard of County Commissioners →
Notes on the record
- linncountyks.com (and its old.linncountyks.com and justicecenter.linncountyks.com sub-sites) was reachable and gave the most detailed record in this group: a real, currently updated inmate roster on the county's own domain, and a bond-agent listing that offers guidance on posting bail. The 'named' check is satisfied by the county's own Justice and Government Center site discussing 'the existing jail' and the Sheriff's Department's jail operations, though no single formal facility name (e.g., 'Linn County Adult Detention Center') was found stated on the site.
- The 68-96 bed Justice and Government Center jail described here is a proposed replacement, not yet built and not yet funded — recorded as a proposal, not as the current jail's capacity.
- Board of County Commissioners (three members): Jason Hightower (District 1), Alison Hamilton (District 2), Jim Johnson (District 3). Regular meetings held at 9:00 a.m. each Monday in the Courthouse Annex, 306 Main St., Mound City; commissioners do not maintain regular office hours.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Linn 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 who pay for it.
Names verified 2026-09-17 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered