Dakota County

The Detention Center

Dakota County Corrections

• Operated byDakota County Sheriff's Office
• Address1601 Broadway Street, PO Box 305, Dakota City, NE 68731
• Phone402-987-2170
• PREA policyThe county's own published Inmate Handbook states a 'zero tolerance policy for sexual contact — consensual or not — between inmates and inmates or inmates and members of staff,' with reporting guidance. This is a policy statement, not published audit results, so the 'prea' check below is still marked no.
• Bond processInmate Handbook: bond review hearings may be requested 24 hours after bond is set; 'money for bonds will be accepted from inmate family members by facility staff'
• VisitationTwo one-hour visitation blocks per inmate per week; visitors must call ahead to schedule by pod, be 18+, and show government ID; no contact visits
• RosterSite links out to a third-party site (inmateinfo.com) for inmate search rather than publishing a roster itself
• What was triedhttps://dakotacosheriffne.org/ (Sheriff's Office site — fetch blocked, no provenance); Smart Deposit PDF opened but returned no machine-readable text, so no commissary/deposit fee figures were recovered

Source: Dakota County, NE — Corrections · 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 — not published
• ✗Independent inspection — not published
• ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
• ✓How to post bond
• ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Dakota 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 Tim Decker

• Runs the jailYes — the elected sheriff has charge of the county jail under Neb. Rev. Stat. 47-105 and 23-1703
• How the office is filledElected countywide, four-year term (Neb. Rev. Stat. 32-520); the Board of Commissioners appointed Decker to the office on February 2, 2026 after the prior sheriff, Chris Kleinberg, retired in December 2025
• BackgroundServed as Chief Deputy for 15 years before the appointment

Source: AOL News — Dakota County, Nebraska sheriff appointed · checked 2026-08-25

The Judges

Nebraska judges are merit-selected and are state, not county, officials: the Governor appoints from a judicial nominating commission list, and appointees then face retention elections (Neb. Const. Art. V §21). The county court judge sets bail at first appearance. No named district or county court judge for Dakota County was located from a source opened in this pass.

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 →