Garfield County

The Detention Center

Not found

• Operated byNot found
• Not in the state's jail-reporting listGarfield County does not appear among the counties in the Nebraska Crime Commission's jail record submission status table, which does list Hall, Hamilton and Harlan counties (the other members of this research group) as reporting jail agencies
• No jail/corrections page on county's own siteGarfield County's own site lists Sheriff's Office, District Court, County Court, County Board, County Clerk, Assessor, Register of Deeds, Treasurer, Election Office, Veterans Services, Roads and Bridges, Planning and Zoning, and Weed Superintendent — no jail or corrections department
• Where current prisoners are heldNot established from a source opened this session

Source: Nebraska Crime Commission — Jail record submission status table · 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 Garfield 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 Paul Cox

• Runs the jailStatutorily the sheriff "has charge and custody of the jail and its prisoners, except in counties where a county board of corrections exists and has duties over the jail" (quoted from the county's own Sheriff's Office page) — but Garfield County does not appear to currently operate a reporting jail facility (see jail entry)
• How the office is filledElected countywide, four-year term (Neb. Rev. Stat. 32-520)
• Office250 South 8th, PO Box 455, Burwell, NE 68823; (308) 346-5150; sheriff@garfieldcountyne.gov
• Published fee scheduleAccident report $10; incident report $10; fingerprinting $5; VIN inspection $10 (courthouse) / $20 (on-site); firearms permit $5

Source: Garfield 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's list, and the appointee then faces an uncontested retention vote (Neb. Const. Art. V § 21). Garfield County's own County Court page names only a Clerk Magistrate, Bert Meschke, handling misdemeanors, traffic, civil matters under $70,000, and probate; no county or district court 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 →