The Detention Center
Beaverhead County Detention Center
- Operated byBeaverhead County Sheriff's Office
- Jail CommanderIan Ternes (Jail Commander/Deputy)
- LocationSame building as Sheriff's Office, 2 South Pacific Street, Suite 16, Dillon, MT 59725 (detention phone is an extension of the main Sheriff's Office line)
- VisitationWednesdays and Fridays, 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- What was triedChecked https://beaverheadcountymt.gov/departments/sheriff/ for beds, year built, cost, funding — none published there
Source: Beaverhead County Sheriff · checked 2026-08-24
Transparency rating
2/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✓Who is in custody
- ✗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 — not published
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
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
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff David Wendt
- Runs the jailYes — Beaverhead County Detention Center, operated by the Sheriff's Office
- UndersheriffCeth Haggard
- How the office is filledElected
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Beaverhead County Sheriff · checked 2026-08-24
The Judges
Montana district court judges and justices of the peace/city judges are elected. The Justice of the Peace typically sets bail at first appearance. Both are state/county judicial officers under the Montana judicial branch, per MCA Title 3.
Beaverhead County (Dillon & Lima) Justice of the Peace
- Randi Braddock
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to first appearance
Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-08-24
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 →
- Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →
Notes on the record
- Montana has no confirmed statutory adult jail inspection agency; state_inspection is recorded as empty per the research brief.
- Checked the county Sheriff and Commissioners pages; no published bed count, budget, PREA audit, independent inspection, death-in-custody, or contract-rate information was found on the county's own site.
- Board of County Commissioners: C. Thomas Rice (District 1), Michael J. McGinley (District 2); District 3 (Chairman seat) listed as vacant as of the page checked.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Beaverhead 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 2026-08-24 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered