The Detention Center
No county jail
- Operated byN/A — Cavalier County contracts out detention under NDCC 12-44.1-02(1)(b)
- Where Cavalier County's prisoners are actually heldPembina County Correctional Center (Cavalier, Pembina County) — confirmed directly: that facility's own DOCR inspection report lists 'Cavalier County' among the jurisdictions it houses inmates from. Note: the city of Cavalier, where PCCC sits, is in Pembina County, not Cavalier County — the two are not the same place.
- Also named as a destination in ND state-layer research (not independently reopened this session)Lake Region Correctional Facility (Devils Lake, Ramsey County) and Rolette County Law Enforcement Center (Rolla) — see plains_states.json ND notes
- What was triedcavaliercounty.us/sheriffs-department/ redirects to cavaliercountysheriffsoffice.us, which returned PROVENANCE_REQUIRED on fetch and was not retried
Source: Pembina County Correctional Center — DOCR Inspection Report (Apr 29-30, 2026) · checked 2026-08-25
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 applicable — no county jail
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Matt Wright
- Runs the jailNo county jail — Cavalier County has no operating adult facility of its own
- ElectedYes — NDCC 11-10-02, four-year term
- OfficeCavalier County Courthouse, 901 3rd St, Langdon, ND 58249; (701) 256-2555
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Cavalier County — Departments · checked 2026-08-25
The Judges
North Dakota district judges are elected on a nonpartisan ballot to six-year terms (ND Constitution Art. VI, Sec. 1). Midterm vacancies are filled by the Governor from a list submitted by a judicial nominating committee, unless the Governor instead calls a special election (ND Constitution Art. VI, Sec. 13). District judges are state judicial officers, not county officials. Cavalier County's own departments page lists Kari Agotness as 'District Court Judge' — consistent with her appearing on the Northeast Judicial District roster.
District Court — Northeast Judicial District
- Anthony Swain Benson (Presiding)
- Kari Michelle Agotness
- Kelley Cole
- Michael P. Hurly
- Lonnie Olson
- Ashley Samuelson
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to first appearance
Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-08-25
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
- Cavalier County has no jail of its own; its prisoners are held at Pembina County Correctional Center in the city of Cavalier (Pembina County) and, per ND state-layer research, at Lake Region Correctional Facility and Rolette County Law Enforcement Center.
- cavaliercounty.us publishes commissioner meeting minutes and agendas, but no jail-roster, budget, PREA, inspection, bond, or fee information was found on the county's own site — none of that would be Cavalier County's to publish given it has no facility.
- 5-member Board of County Commissioners (NDCC 11-11-01), elected at large but serving in districts (ND Association of Counties): Austin Lafrenz (Chairman), Greg Goodman (Vice Chairman), Stanley Dick, Shane Gallagher, Nick Moser.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Cavalier 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 2026-08-25 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered