Arthur County

The Detention Center

Not found

• Operated byNot found
• No jail facility on county's own siteArthur County's own site lists 15 county offices (Assessor, Attorney, Board of Commissioners, Clerk, Clerk District Court, County Court, Emergency Manager, Extension Educator, Highway Superintendent, Register of Deeds, Sheriff, Treasurer, Veterans Services Officer, Weed Superintendent, Zoning Administrator) and none is a jail or detention office; the Sheriff's own page gives contact information only, with no jail, facility, or corrections content
• Not in the state's jail-facility rosterArthur County does not appear among the county jail facilities listed in the Nebraska Crime Commission's Jail Data Query tool's facility dropdown, nor in its jail-agency reporting-status table — both list Adams, Antelope, Boone and Box Butte counties as reporting jail agencies but omit Arthur (as they also omit Banner and Blaine, see those entries)
• Historic jail is now a museumThe 'First Arthur County Courthouse and Jail,' on the National Register of Historic Places since 1990 and reputed the smallest courthouse in the United States, now serves as a museum — it is not the county's current courthouse or jail
• Where current prisoners are heldNot established from a source opened this session. Arthur County is Nebraska's least-populous county (2020 Census); a commercial site (nesheriffsassoc.org) claims Arthur County operates an 85-staff 'medium-security' jail under a sheriff named 'Billy Simpson' — this contradicts the county's own site (which names the sheriff as Calvin Turner) and is not credible; it is not cited as a source and is recorded here only to explain why it was rejected

Source: Nebraska Crime Commission — Jail Data Query facility list · 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 Arthur 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 found

The Sheriff

Sheriff Calvin Turner

• Runs the jailStatutorily yes — the elected sheriff has charge of the county jail under Neb. Rev. Stat. 47-105 and 23-1703 — but Arthur County does not appear to currently operate a jail facility (see jail entry)
• How the office is filledElected countywide, four-year term (Neb. Rev. Stat. 32-520)
• Office205 Fir Street, PO Box 188, Arthur, NE 69121; (308) 785-7911; sheriff@arthurcountyne.gov

Source: Arthur County, NE — Sheriff (arthurcounty.nebraska.gov) · checked 2026-08-25

The Judges

Nebraska judges are merit-selected, not county officials: the Governor appoints from a judicial nominating commission's list, and the judge then faces an uncontested retention vote at the next general election after three years, and every six years thereafter (Neb. Const. Art. V, sec. 21). This county's specific judicial district and sitting judges were not established from sources reviewed this session; Arthur County's own site lists a County Court office but no judge is named on it.

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 →