Missoula County

The Detention Center

Missoula County Detention Facility (MCDF)

• Operated byMissoula County Sheriff's Office
• Address2340 Mullan Road, Missoula, MT 59808
• Beds394 total capacity, including a 24-bed juvenile unit (ages 10-17)
• OpenedNovember 1, 1999
• StaffingApproximately 130 total staff
• Holds prisoners forMissoula Police Department, Montana Highway Patrol, University of Montana Police, U.S. Marshals Service, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, U.S. Forest Service, and other county sheriff's offices — no rate schedule published
• Communications vendorSmart Communications for phone/video visitation/email; commissary via correctpay.com — no rate schedule published on the county site
• BudgetFY2027 Preliminary Budget Book states the Sheriff's Office, Missoula Detention Facility, and District Courts are funded through countywide taxes; itemized detention line items were not found
• What was triedmissoulacounty.gov detention-division and finance/county-budget pages — no year-built, construction cost, itemized detention budget figure, inspection result, or death-in-custody information found

Source: Missoula County — Detention Division · checked 2026-08-24

• ✓The jail is named
• ✓Who is in custody
• ✓Beds and daily population
• ✓What it costs taxpayers
• ✗Deaths in custody — not published
• ✓PREA audits
• ✗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 Missoula County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked 2026-08-24. 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 built1999 (opened November 1, 1999)
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byCountywide taxes fund the Sheriff's Office, Missoula Detention Facility, and District Courts per the FY2027 budget page; itemized original construction funding not found
• Beds394 total (adult plus a 24-bed juvenile unit)

The Sheriff

Sheriff Jeremiah Petersen

• Runs the jailYes — Missoula County Detention Facility, administered by the Sheriff's Office
• How the office is filledElected

Source: Missoula County — Sheriff's Office · checked 2026-08-24

The Judges

Montana district court judges and justices of the peace are elected. The Justice of the Peace usually sets bail at first appearance. Both are state judicial officers, not county officials.

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 →