The Detention Center
No county jail
- Operated byN/A — Divide County contracts out detention under NDCC 12-44.1-02(1)(b)
- Where Divide County's prisoners are actually heldPer ND state-layer research (not independently reopened this session): Williams County Correctional Center (Williston) and McKenzie County Correctional Facility (Watford City) — see plains_states.json ND notes
- County's own siteDivide County's sheriff's-department page (dividecountynd.org) describes the sheriff's duties as including 'transporting prisoners' but does not itself name a destination facility
Source: Divide County, ND — Sheriff's Department · 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 Zachary L. Schroeder
- Runs the jailNo county jail — Divide County has no operating adult facility of its own
- ElectedYes — NDCC 11-10-02, four-year term
- Office200 N Main St, Crosby, ND 58730
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: North Dakota POST Board — Sheriffs' Departments directory · 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. Divide County's own court-locations page (ndcourts.gov) confirms it sits in the Northwest Judicial District.
District Court — Northwest Judicial District
- Robin A. Schmidt (Presiding)
- Daniel S. El-Dweek
- Benjamen J. Johnson
- Chas Neff Jr.
- Joshua B. Rustad
- Kirsten M. Sjue
- 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
- Divide County has no jail of its own; per ND state-layer research its prisoners are held at Williams County and McKenzie County facilities.
- The county's Auditor page links a single file, 'County Financials 2019.xlsx' — an outdated (2019) spreadsheet, not a current published budget, so 'budget' is recorded as no.
- No jail-roster, PREA, inspection, bond, contracts, or fee information was found on dividecountynd.org — expected, since the county has no jail to report on.
- 3-member Board of County Commissioners (NDCC 11-11-01), elected at large but serving in districts (ND Association of Counties): Isaac Jacobs (Chairman, Dist. 1), Rodney Johnson (Dist. 2), Ross "Chico" Eriksmoen (Dist. 3).
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Divide 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