Dawes County

The Detention Center

Not found

• Operated byDawes County Sheriff's Office
• LocationSheriff/Jail occupies the upper floor of the Dawes County Courthouse, 451 Main Street, Chadron, NE 69337
• What was triedhttps://dawescounty.ne.gov/about/locations.html (address confirmed; no facility name, bed count, or budget found); https://dawescounty.ne.gov/what-we-do/county-offices/sheriffs-office.html re-checked directly for jail name/transparency data — only contact info and job postings found

Source: Dawes County, NE — County Offices · 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 Dawes 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 Jeff Johns

• Runs the jailYes — Sheriff/Jail is listed together as a single office on the upper floor of the county courthouse
• How the office is filledElected countywide, four-year term (Neb. Rev. Stat. 32-520)
• StaffingCounty site lists part-time Correctional Officer positions among current job openings

Source: Dawes County, NE — Sheriff's Office · 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 Dawes 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 →