The Detention Center
Teton County Sheriff's Office Detention Center
- Operated byTeton County Sheriff's Office
- Overflow arrangementThe Sheriff's Office FAQ states that when it is 'housing an inmate at the Pondera County Jail' or 'housing an inmate at the Chouteau County Jail,' those facilities' separate visiting hours apply — meaning Teton County places some inmates in neighboring county jails
- Sheriff's Office address26 First Street SE, Choteau, MT 59422
- What was triedChecked https://www.tetoncountysheriffmt.org/ (home, sitemap, message, history, info, faq, services) and https://tetoncountymt.gov/ (home, commissioners) for a named detention facility page, beds, year built, cost, budget, roster, PREA, inspections, deaths — no dedicated jail/detention page, bed count, or budget figure found on either the Sheriff's Office site or the county site
Source: Teton County Sheriff's Office FAQ · checked 2026-08-24
Transparency rating
1/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✗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 Keith L. Van Setten
- TitleSheriff/Coroner
- In office2007-2010, 2011-2014, 2015-2018, 2019-present, per the Sheriff's Office's own history-of-the-office page
- How the office is filledElected
- Runs a jailOperates a small Sheriff's Office Detention Center; also uses overflow housing at neighboring county jails (see jail entry)
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Teton County Sheriff's Office · 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 judicial officers under the Montana judicial branch (MCA Title 3), not county officials.
- 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 →
Notes on the record
- Teton County's own Sheriff's Office site names a 'Detention Center' but publishes no bed count, budget, roster link, PREA information, inspection result, or death-in-custody information.
- The Sheriff's Office FAQ shows Teton County sometimes houses its own inmates at the Pondera County Jail or the Chouteau County Jail (visiting-hours info for both is given) — this is Teton County placing its prisoners elsewhere, not Teton holding other agencies' prisoners, so the 'contracts' check (which asks about holding other agencies' prisoners for a fee) 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: Sam Carlson (District 1), Joe Dellwo (District 2), Brian Bedord (District 3). Meets 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month at 10 a.m.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Teton 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