Phelps County

The Detention Center

Phelps County Jail

• Operated byPhelps County Sheriff's Department
• Jail address500 West 2nd Street, Rolla, MO 65401
• BedsUp to 243 prisoners across two correctional facilities, per the sheriff's home page; the second facility is not named or described
• Current facilityThe sheriff's history page dates the current jail era 2003 to present, after earlier jails in use 1860-1912, 1912-1972 and 1972-2003; no cost or funding is given
• VisitationThrough HomeWAV video; on-site visits must be scheduled 24 hours ahead, once a week; home visits carry a per-minute fee whose amount is not published
• Inmate costs publishedCommissary purchases capped at $125.00 per week; $15.00 medical co-pay for requested visits; $5.00 per-prescription processing fee for state inmates; the handbook states no inmate will be denied medical attention for lack of funds
• MailPostcards only, no larger than 5x7
• Daily populationNot published
• Not to be confused withThe 1860 Phelps County Jail on Park Street in Rolla, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990, is a historical society property, not the working jail
• What was triedThe Current Inmates link on the sheriff's site points to a vendor portal at rolla-pd-mo.zuercherportal.com, which was refused (PROVENANCE_REQUIRED). No Phelps County government website was returned by the search, and the sheriff's useful-links page links none, so no county commission, budget or minutes page was examined

Source: Phelps County Sheriff's Department - Inmate Handbook · checked 2026-09-18

• ✓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 — not published
• ✗How to post bond — not published
• ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Phelps County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked 2026-09-18. 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 - the sheriff's history page dates the current jail era from 2003 but gives no construction details
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byNot found
• BedsUp to 243 prisoners across two correctional facilities (sheriff's home page)

The Sheriff

Sheriff Michael P. Kirn

• Runs the jailYes - the Phelps County Sheriff's Department operates the Phelps County Jail; its home page says it runs two correctional facilities housing up to 243 prisoners
• How the office is filledElected county sheriff
• Statutory basisRSMo 221.020 gives the sheriff of each county the custody, rule, keeping and charge of the jail and of all prisoners in it; RSMo 221.080 puts jail expense on the county commission.
• In office since2021, per the sheriff's own history page
• Office address500 W 2nd St, Rolla, MO 65401
• Listed contact573-426-3860 (non-emergency)

Source: Phelps County Sheriff's Department · checked 2026-09-18

The Judges

Missouri's 1940 Nonpartisan Court Plan covers the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals statewide, but at circuit level it applies in only six jurisdictions - Clay, Greene, Jackson, Platte, St. Louis County and St. Louis City. This county is not one of them, so its circuit and associate circuit judges are elected on a partisan ballot. They are state judicial officers, not county officials. No judge's name and no judicial circuit number were confirmed from a page that could be opened.

Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-09-18

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