Shawnee County

The Detention Center

Adult Detention Center

• Operated byShawnee County Department of Corrections
• Who runs itBrian Cole — Director, Shawnee County Department of Corrections
• Answers tothe Shawnee County Board of County Commissioners
• Why this is differentThe elected county sheriff does not run this jail.
• Jail address501 S.E. 8th Street, Topeka, KS 66607
• Rated capacity507 beds
• Daily populationNot published on the department profile
• Annual reportsThe department publishes annual reports for 2017 through 2025 on its own site
• Bond types publishedCA — full cash at the public access window; PS — through a bondsman; ORC, ORCD and CS — ten percent of the bond in cash only; WS — family members may sign or a professional bond may be used
• Booking fee$45, assessed under Shawnee County Resolution 2004-40
• Medical co-pays$3 nurse's sick call; $5 doctor's clinic; $5 dental clinic; $3 a month for medication and refills
• Other published fees$5 to notarize a document; 20 cents a page for copies, 50 cents a page where staff research is needed; $5 for an inmate photo; $5 for a letter of incarceration

Source: Shawnee County Department of Corrections — Department Profile · 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 Shawnee 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
• Beds507

The Sheriff

Sheriff Brian C. Hill

• Runs the jailNo. Shawnee County is one of the few Kansas counties where the elected sheriff does not run the jail.
• Who doesThe Shawnee County Department of Corrections, a separate county department
• When it changedThe department was formally established in October 1980, and by May 1981 the Sheriff and the new department had agreed to transfer administration of the county jail out of the Sheriff's Office.

Source: Shawnee 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 3rd 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.

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