Richland County

The Detention Center

Richland County Jail (Richland County Correctional Facility / Law Enforcement Center)

• Operated byRichland County Sheriff's Office
• Detention commandSteve Gjerdevig — Chief Corrections/Operations Deputy, Richland County Jail
• Address413 3rd Avenue North / 418 2nd Ave N, Wahpeton, North Dakota 58075
• Rated capacity33
• Population on most recent inspection day22 (June 24-25, 2026 DOCR inspection); a prior DOCR inspection dated June 4-5, 2025 recorded population 16 on that day
• GradeGrade one — up to a one-year hold
• Compliance"107" standards met, "0" non-compliant, "1" non-applicable — per the June 24-25, 2026 DOCR inspection. One variance was accepted for a temporary safety-observation holding cell lacking toilet facilities, used only for short-term holds not exceeding four hours without supervisory review.
• Year built1975
• StaffingChief Corrections/Operations Deputy Steve Gjerdevig; corrections sergeants Mike Larson and Riley Rangel; 2 sergeants and 9 corrections officers
• Contracts (per DOCR inspection report, not the county's own site)Agreements to house inmates from U.S. Marshals Service, DOCR Parole and Probation, the counties of Ransom, Sargent and Dickey, the Sisseton-Wahpeton tribal nations, and the City of Wahpeton
• Daily jail rosterPublished on the county's own site
• PREAAnnual PREA reports published for 2021-2025, plus a 2024 PREA Staffing Plan and a PREA/Investigation Policy, all on the county's own site; PREA Coordinator Riley Rangel

Source: Richland County — Jail page · checked 2026-08-25

• ✓The jail is named
• ✓Who is in custody
• ✗Beds and daily population — not published
• ✗What it costs taxpayers — not published
• ✗Deaths in custody — not published
• ✓PREA audits
• ✗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 Richland 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 built1975
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byNot found
• Beds33

The Sheriff

Sheriff Gary Ruhl

• Runs the jailYes — statutory keeper of the Richland County Jail under NDCC 11-15-03(1)(f); day-to-day operation delegated to a Chief Corrections/Operations Deputy
• ElectedYes — NDCC 11-10-02, four-year term
• Office418 2nd Ave N, Wahpeton, ND 58075; 701-642-7700

Source: Richland County — Sheriff page · 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 →
• Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →