The Detention Center
No county jail
- Operated byN/A — Dickey County contracts out detention under NDCC 12-44.1-02(1)(b)
- Where Dickey County's prisoners are actually heldBurleigh Morton Detention Center (Bismarck) — confirmed directly: that facility's own DOCR inspection report lists 'Dickey' among the counties it houses inmates from.
- Also named as a destination in ND state-layer research (not independently reopened this session)Stutsman County Correctional Center (Jamestown), Barnes County Correctional Center (Valley City), and Richland County Jail (Wahpeton) — see plains_states.json ND notes
Source: Burleigh Morton Detention Center — DOCR Inspection Report (Feb 3-4, 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 Chris Estes
- Runs the jailNo county jail — Dickey County has no operating adult facility of its own
- ElectedYes — NDCC 11-10-02, four-year term
- OfficeDickey County Courthouse, 309 N 2nd Street, Ellendale, ND 58436; (701) 349-3249 ext. 1; dcso@nd.gov
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Dickey County, ND — Sheriff's Department · 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. Dickey County's own court-locations page (ndcourts.gov) confirms it sits in the Southeast Judicial District.
District Court — Southeast Judicial District
- Daniel D. Narum (Presiding)
- Bradley A. Cruff
- James D. Hovey
- Troy J. LeFevre
- Jay A. Schmitz
- James T. Shockman
- Nicholas D. Thornton
- 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
- Dickey County has no jail of its own; its prisoners are held at Burleigh Morton Detention Center and, per ND state-layer research, also at Stutsman, Barnes and Richland county facilities.
- dickeynd.com publishes commission agendas and minutes but no budget document, jail-related page, or any of the ten transparency items was found on the county's own site — expected, since the county has no jail to report on.
- 5-member Board of County Commissioners (NDCC 11-11-01), elected at large but serving in districts (ND Association of Counties): Kacey Holm (Chairman, Dist. 1), Jerry Walsh (Dist. 2), Brandon Carlson (Vice Chairman, Dist. 3), Marke Roberts (Dist. 4), John Hokana (Dist. 5).
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Dickey 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