The Detention Center
None — Grant County has no jail
- Operated by
- Where Grant County's prisoners are actually heldBurleigh Morton Detention Center (Bismarck) and Mercer County Jail (Stanton) — confirmed directly: each facility's own DOCR inspection report lists Grant County among the counties it houses
Source: Mercer County Jail — DOCR Inspection Report (Jul 29, 2025) · 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 Terry Dillon
- Runs the jailNo county jail in Grant County
- ElectedYes — NDCC 11-10-02 requires each county to have an elected sheriff, four-year term
- Contact106 2nd Ave. NE, Carson, ND 58529; (701) 622-3331; tldillon@nd.gov
- Confirmed twiceAlso named as current sheriff on the North Dakota Association of Counties officials directory
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Grant County, ND — County Sheriff · 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. Under ND Supreme Court Administrative Rule 20, a presiding judge may appoint a magistrate with delegated authority to hold initial appearances and set bail under NDCC ch. 29-08.
District Court — South Central Judicial District
- Cynthia M. Feland (Presiding Judge)
- Daniel J. Borgen
- James S. Hill
- Jason Hammes
- Jackson J. Lofgren
- Pamela A. Nesvig
- Lindsey Nieuwsma
- Marina Spahr
- Bonnie L. Storbakken
- Bobbi Weiler
- 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
- Grant County has no jail. This is not a gap: its prisoners are held at Burleigh Morton Detention Center and Mercer County Jail, confirmed directly from each facility's own DOCR inspection report.
- The county's 2026 Budget Information document center (grantcountynd.com/government/auditor_treasurer/budget_information.php), opened and read this session, lists 37 budget documents across county entities but none for the Sheriff's Office, so 'budget' is recorded no.
- The county sheriff, commissioners, departments, and budget pages were all opened this session; none published a roster, capacity, deaths, PREA, inspections, contracts, bond, or fee information.
- Board of County Commissioners. Commissioners: Alton Zenker (District 3, Chairman), AlRoy Hochhalter (District 2), Marty Meyer (District 1). Meets the first and third Wednesday of each month at the Courthouse in Carson.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Grant 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