The Detention Center
Broadwater County Detention Center
- Operated byBroadwater County Sheriff's Office
- Built2005
- BedsHomepage states 46 beds / can house up to 50 detainees; the Detention Center subpage states 48 beds — both figures published by the county
- Jail CommanderJohnnie Spurlock
- Transport SergeantDonald Kynett
- NoteA majority of detainees are held for other agencies, including the Montana Department of Corrections; the 911 Emergency Dispatch Center is co-located in the Detention Center
Source: Broadwater County Sheriff · checked 2026-08-24
Transparency rating
4/10Partial- ✓The jail is named
- ✓Who is in custody
- ✓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
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year built2005
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds46-48 (sources on the county's own site vary: homepage states 46 beds/up to 50 detainees; Detention Center subpage states 48 beds)
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Mark Wood
- TitleSheriff/Coroner
- Runs the jailYes — Broadwater County Detention Center
- 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: Broadwater 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.
1st Judicial District Court Judges (Broadwater, Lewis and Clark Counties)
- Hon. Chris Abbott
- Hon. Michael McMahon
- Hon. Mike Menahan
- Hon. Kathy Seeley
- Standing Master Hannah Roe
- 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
- The Detention Center page states a majority of detainees are held for other agencies, including the Montana Department of Corrections, but no rate schedule is published, so 'contracts' is recorded as no.
- Montana has no confirmed statutory adult jail inspection agency; state_inspection is recorded as empty per the research brief.
- Board of County Commissioners: Debi Randolph (Chair, District 1), Lindsey Richtmyer (District 2), Jesse Swenson (Vice Chair, District 3).
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Broadwater 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