Morton County

The Detention Center

Burleigh Morton Detention Center — co-owned by Morton County, sited in Bismarck (Burleigh County); Morton hosts no facility of its own

• Operated byBurleigh County Sheriff's Office, under joint Burleigh and Morton County Commission governing authority
• Who runs itTrent Wangen — Assistant Jail Administrator, Burleigh Morton Detention Center
• Answers toBurleigh County, which operates the shared facility
• Why this is differentThe elected county sheriff does not run this jail.
• StructureMorton is the one North Dakota county that co-owns a jail without hosting it — the facility sits entirely in Burleigh County
• Rated capacity555
• Population on inspection day360 (Feb 3-4, 2026)
• GradeGrade one
• ComplianceFull compliance — all 107 applicable standards passed, none recorded non-compliant
• Who runs it day to dayBurleigh County Sheriff Kelly Leben and Assistant Jail Administrator Trent Wangen — not Morton County's own sheriff's office
• Other counties/agencies also heldEmmons, Grant, Kidder, Logan, McIntosh, Mercer, Sheridan, Sioux, Dickey, Traill, Griggs, Adams, LaMoure, Cass Counties; cities of Bismarck, Mandan, Lincoln; U.S. Marshal Service; Bureau of Prisons; ICE; Parole and Probation; DOCR

Source: Burleigh Morton Detention Center — DOCR Inspection Report (Feb 3-4, 2026) · checked 2026-08-25

• ✗The jail is named — not published
• ✗Who is in custody — not published
• ✗Beds and daily population — not published
• ✗What it costs taxpayers — not published
• ✗Deaths in custody — not published
• ✗PREA audits — not published
• ✗Independent inspection — not published
• ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
• ✗How to post bond — not published
• ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Morton County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked 2026-08-25. Nothing here says the jail is run well or badly. Every mark moves the moment the county posts the document.

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 to Morton specifically — the 555-bed co-owned facility is physically sited in Burleigh County

The Sheriff

Sheriff Kyle L. Kirchmeier

• Runs the jailNo jail hosted in Morton County itself — Morton co-owns the Burleigh Morton Detention Center (sited in Bismarck, Burleigh County) with Burleigh County; day-to-day operation is under Burleigh County Sheriff Kelly Leben, not Morton's own sheriff
• ElectedYes — NDCC 11-10-02, four-year term
• Confidence noteThe North Dakota POST Board's current Sheriffs Departments directory is the only source located this session naming a Morton County sheriff; mortonnd.gov's own Sheriff's Office pages, fetched directly, did not name an officeholder. Recorded with that caveat.

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. 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.

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