Sedgwick County

The Detention Center

Sedgwick County Adult Detention Facility (Detention Bureau)

• Operated bySedgwick County Sheriff's Office
• Capacity (county's own site)'up to 1,500 inmates', per https://www.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriff/detention-bureau/; the Kansas Sheriffs' Association's county profile separately lists 1,158 beds — the two figures were not reconciled this session (possibly rated vs. design capacity, or a count that includes/excludes the Jail Annex).
• Staffing'More than 300 dedicated men and women work 24/7' at the Detention Bureau, per https://www.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriff/detention-bureau/; the Association profile separately lists 312 jail staff.
• Jail Administrator (internal Sheriff's Office role)Jared Schechter is listed as Jail Administrator on the Sheriff's Office directory, https://www.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriff/directory/ — an internal Sheriff's Office role, not a separate county department, so jail_administrator is left null per project convention. (The Kansas Sheriffs' Association's profile separately names Major Glenn Kurtz in this role.)
• Bond postingDetailed guidance published: cash-only bonds for certain charges (child support, judge-ordered), photo ID and IRS reporting required above $10,000.01, no cash-bond refunds; Own-Recognizance release available to metro-area residents (Sedgwick, Harvey, Butler, Sumner, Reno, Kingman counties) with no fee, subject to conditions; professional-surety bonding through a licensed bondsman. Source: https://www.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriff/detention-bureau/bond-information/
• Communication feesTwo free calls and two free messages per inmate per week, then $0.015/minute domestic phone; one free hour of video visitation per week, then $0.11/minute; email/photo $0.05 each; streaming tablet content $0.03/minute at the Jail Annex; all paid to ICSolutions/JailATM, not to the county. Source: https://www.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriff/detention-bureau/inmate-communications/
• Out-of-county housingThe Sheriff's Office says it 'occasionally houses inmates in other facilities throughout the state when capacity or circumstances require it' and directs mail/money to the facility actually holding the inmate; no rates or contract terms for housing OTHER agencies' prisoners at Sedgwick's own facility were found published. Source: https://www.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriff/detention-bureau/out-of-county-inmates/
• What was triedSedgwick County's own site (sedgwickcounty.org) was extensively opened this session: the Detention Bureau page, Bond Information, Inmate Communications, Out-of-County Inmates, Detention-Administrative-Services, the Sheriff's Office directory, and the public inmate-search tool (ssc.sedgwickcounty.org). No detention budget, PREA audit result, independent inspection result, or death-in-custody disclosure was found published on the county's own site.

Source: Sedgwick County, Kansas — Sheriff's Office Detention Bureau · checked 2026-09-17

• ✓The jail is named
• ✓Who is in custody
• ✓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
• ✓Phone, video and commissary rates

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Sedgwick County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked 2026-09-17. 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 builtNot found
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byNot found
• Beds1,500

The Sheriff

Sheriff Jeffrey Easter

• TitleSedgwick County Sheriff
• Office contact141 West Elm, Wichita, KS 67203; (316) 660-3900, fax 316-660-3248; hours 8:00am-5:00pm M-F
• Staffing (per Kansas Sheriffs' Association profile)180 sworn staff, 47 support staff, 312 jail staff
• Sheriff's Office website (as listed by the Association)www.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriff
• Confirmed on county's own siteSedgwick County's own Sheriff's Office directory lists 'Sheriff - Jeff Easter'. Source: https://www.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriff/directory/

Source: Kansas Sheriffs' Association — county profile (Sedgwick County) · 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 18th Judicial District elects its district judges on a partisan ballot - the default under Kan. Const. Art. 3 sec. 6. Its voters have not adopted the nonpartisan nominating-commission method available under K.S.A. 20-2901.

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