Bay County

The Detention Center

Bay County Jail

• Operated byBay County Sheriff's Office
• Law Enforcement Center address503 Third St., Bay City, MI 48708
• Bond paymentCourts set prisoner bonds; payable by money order, certified check, or cash (not personal checks); online via expressaccount.com; credit/debit bonds subject to $10.00 + 8% processing fee; maximum kiosk bond $1,500, maximum web bond $1,000, per the office's own site
• Commissary feesKiosk deposits up to $50/week by cash; credit card commissary up to $150/week subject to $4.00 + 4% fee; hygiene items/undergarments up to $50/week, per the office's own site

Source: Bay County Jail Information · checked 2026-09-19

• ✓The jail is named
• ✗Who is in custody — not published
• ✗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

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Bay County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked 2026-09-19. 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
• BedsNot found

The Sheriff

Sheriff Troy Cunningham

• Runs the jailBay County Sheriff's Office operates the Bay County Jail
• How the office is filledElected, four-year term, MCL 51.70
• Statutory basisMCL 51.75 gives the sheriff custody of the county jail

Source: Bay County, MI - Sheriff · checked 2026-09-19

The Judges

Michigan circuit and district court judges are elected on a nonpartisan ballot to six-year terms under Mich. Const. art. VI — state judicial officers, not county officials.

Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-09-19

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 boardNot found
• Where the jail money is decidedNot found