The Detention Center
Newaygo County Jail
- Operated byNewaygo County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address1035 E James Street, PO Box 845, White Cloud, MI 49349
- Beds270-bed rated capacity following an expansion completed November 1, 2010
- Federal detaineesThe jail houses U.S. Marshals Service detainees, per the county's own Jail page
- Jail AdministratorChad Palmiter (Undersheriff, listed as jail contact on the county's own Jail page)
Source: Newaygo County, MI - County Jail · checked 2026-09-19
Transparency rating
5/10Partial- ✓The jail is named
- ✗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
- ✓How to post bond
- ✓Phone, video and commissary rates
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year builtNot found (an expansion completed November 1, 2010 is stated on the county's own Jail page; original construction date not found)
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds270 (rated capacity after the 2010 expansion)
Since then
- Expansion completed November 1, 2010, bringing rated capacity to 270 beds
The Sheriff
Sheriff Bob Mendham
- Runs the jailThe Sheriff's Office operates the Newaygo County Jail, per the county's own Sheriff page
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term, MCL 51.70
- Statutory basisMCL 51.75 gives the elected county sheriff custody of the county jail
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Newaygo County, MI - County 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.
Newaygo 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 2026-09-19
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 boardhttps://www.newaygocountymi.gov/board_of_commissione/board-of-commissioners/ →
- Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →
Notes on the record
- The county's own Jail Fees page describes a $12 booking fee (per Michigan Public Act 121) and $30.00-per-day housing plus medical/prescription cost recovery (per Michigan Public Act 118), with a 50% housing-fee discount for prompt payment.
- The county's own Bonding Information page describes cash bonds at court, online posting via eXpressAccount.com, and court-approved bonding companies.
- The county's own Jail page states the facility houses U.S. Marshals Service federal detainees, which is treated here as evidence of a housing/service contract.
- No inmate roster, PREA policy, deaths-in-custody data, inspection reports, or budget figures were found published on the county's own site.
- State inspection/oversight: Michigan county jails are subject to inspection under the Michigan Department of Corrections' Administrative Rules for Jails and Lockups; no county-published inspection reports were found on newaygocountymi.gov.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Newaygo 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 2026-09-19 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered