The Detention Center
Not found
- Operated byNot found
- Jail statusBlaine County's own website lists no jail or detention center department. The Sheriff & Coroner page and the county directory list only patrol/administrative staff, with no current Detention Officer or jail facility listed.
- What was triedChecked https://blainecounty-mt.gov (department nav list), https://blainecounty-mt.gov/sheriff-coroner, https://blainecounty-mt.gov/directory, and the site's own search for 'detention' (0 results) — no county jail found on the county's own site.
Source: Blaine County, MT · checked 2026-08-24
Transparency rating
0/10Closed- ✗The jail is named — not published
- ✗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 — 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 John Colby
- In office since2019, per the Sheriff's Office page's list of past sheriffs
- How the office is filledElected
- Runs a jailNo — the county's own site lists no jail/detention department (see jail entry)
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Blaine County, MT · 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.
17th Judicial District Court Judge (Blaine, Phillips, Valley Counties)
- Hon. Yvonne Laird
- 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
- Blaine County's own website does not list a jail or detention center department (checked the homepage department navigation, the Sheriff & Coroner page, the county staff directory, and the site's own search for 'detention', which returned 'No Results Found'). Where Blaine County's prisoners are currently held is not stated on the county's own site.
- Montana has no confirmed statutory adult jail inspection agency; state_inspection is recorded as empty per the research brief.
- Board of County Commissioners: Miles Hutton (Chair), Dolores Plumage, Shane Fox (Vice Chair). Commissioners are elected to six-year staggered terms.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Blaine 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