The Detention Center
No county jail
- Operated byN/A — Eddy County contracts out detention under NDCC 12-44.1-02(1)(b)
- Where Eddy County's prisoners are actually heldPer ND state-layer research (not independently reopened this session): Lake Region Correctional Facility (Devils Lake), Stutsman County Correctional Center (Jamestown), and Mercer County Jail (Stanton). Eddy County holds one of the seven seats on the Lake Region Law Enforcement Center (LRLEC) joint-powers governing board, alongside the City of Devils Lake (2 seats), Ramsey County (2 seats), and Nelson and Benson counties (1 seat each) — see plains_states.json ND notes.
- County's own siteThe Eddy County Sheriff's Office page (eddycountynd.org) shows a photo labeled 'Eddy County Sheriff' but does not name the officeholder or a jail destination in the content that could be read this session
Source: Eddy County, North Dakota — Sheriff's Office · 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 Paul A. Lies
- Runs the jailNo county jail — Eddy County has no operating adult facility of its own
- ElectedYes — NDCC 11-10-02, four-year term
- Office524 Central Ave, New Rockford, ND 58356; (701) 947-5515
- 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. Eddy County's own court-locations page (ndcourts.gov) confirms it sits in the Southeast Judicial District, which — per that district's own county list — was expanded well beyond its original nine counties through boundary transfers in 1993, 2000 and 2014 to include Eddy, Foster, Wells and Griggs counties.
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 →
Notes on the record
- Eddy County has no jail of its own; per ND state-layer research it holds one seat on the Lake Region Correctional Facility joint-powers board and also sends prisoners to Stutsman and Mercer county facilities.
- eddycountynd.org's Auditor page was checked directly and does not publish a budget document; no jail-roster, PREA, inspection, bond, contracts, or fee information was found on the county's own site — expected, since the county has no jail to report on.
- 3-member Board of County Commissioners (NDCC 11-11-01), elected and serving at large (ND Association of Counties). Individual commissioner names were not found on a source opened this session; the county's own commission page states only that 'The Eddy County Commission meets the 1st Tuesday of each month at the Eddy County Courthouse.'
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Eddy 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