Platte County

The Detention Center

Platte County Detention Facility

• Operated byPlatte County Sheriff's Office
• Address1125 East 17th Street, Columbus, Nebraska 68601
• Beds144 adult inmates; completed in 2003 at a cost of $7.2 million, replacing an older jail that held 27
• PREAPage lists PREA audit summary reports for 2016, 2019 and 2022, plus training materials and a zero-tolerance policy statement
• RosterPublishes a current inmate roster organized by housing pod (A-POD through F-POD, MD-1, MD-2, F-DORM)
• BondJudge sets bond at first appearance within 24 hours of arrest; the county's own site offers a 'Remote Bond Payments' online portal
• FeesPage references Smart Deposit Plus (trust fund deposits) and MyCarePack.com for commissary, but no fee schedule/dollar rates are published on the county's own site
• Contracted servicesInmate communications run through CIDNET (video visits, digital mail); commissary through MyCarePack.com — both third-party vendors, no county-published rate schedule found

Source: Platte County, NE — Detention Center (plattecounty.ne.gov) · checked 2026-08-25

• ✓The jail is named
• ✓Who is in custody
• ✓Beds and daily population
• ✓What it costs taxpayers
• ✗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
• ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Platte 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 built2003
• Original cost$7.2 million
• Paid for byNot found
• Beds144 (replaced an older jail that held 27)

The Sheriff

Sheriff Edward Wemhoff

• Runs the jailYes — the Sheriff's Office operates the Platte County Detention Facility as a division of the office (Neb. Rev. Stat. 47-105 and 23-1703)
• How the office is filledElected countywide, four-year term (Neb. Rev. Stat. 32-520); serving since 2014 per the county's own sheriff page
• Office locationHall of Justice Building, 2610 14th Street, Columbus, NE; the office employs 20 full-time certified deputies

Source: Platte County, NE — Sheriff (plattecounty.ne.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 (Neb. Const. Art. V, sec. 21). The County Court judge sets bail at first appearance. Platte County's own County Court page names Denise J. Kracl as County Court Judge; the District Court page names only the Clerk of the District Court (Marlene Vetick), not the presiding judge.

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 →