Rolette County

The Detention Center

Rolette County Law Enforcement Center

• Operated byRolette County Sheriff's Office
• Detention commandChristina Allard — Jail Administrator, Rolette County Law Enforcement Center
• Address16 1st St. SW, Rolla, North Dakota 58367
• Rated capacity48
• Population on inspection day19 (August 20-21, 2025 DOCR inspection)
• GradeGrade one — up to a one-year hold
• ComplianceAll 107 applicable standards found compliant — "Compliance with Standards 107" with zero non-compliant findings
• Facility layoutHouses the sheriff's office and 911 dispatch alongside the correctional center; four housing units with double-bunked cells, observation cells, and separate male/female areas
• Staffing1 administrator, 14 full-time security personnel (approximately 1:3 inmate-to-staff ratio)
• 2024 bookings570 total (400 male, 170 female); average stay 42 days
• Contracts (per DOCR inspection report, not the county's own site)Contracts with the cities of Dunseith, Rolla, Rolette, and St. John, and with eight surrounding counties
• PREAAnnual reports published for 2017-2025, plus audits from 2018 and 2021, an inmate handbook, and jail policy/procedure manual, all on the county's own site

Source: Rolette County — Law Enforcement Center page · checked 2026-08-25

• ✓The jail is named
• ✗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
• ✗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 Rolette 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
• Beds48

The Sheriff

Sheriff Nathan A. Gustafson

• Runs the jailYes — statutory keeper of the Rolette County Law Enforcement Center under NDCC 11-15-03(1)(f); day-to-day operation delegated to a jail administrator
• ElectedYes — NDCC 11-10-02, four-year term
• Office16 1st St. SW, PO Box 447, Rolla, ND 58367; 701-477-5623; ngustafson@nd.gov

Source: Rolette County — Law Enforcement Center 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 →