Red Willow County

The Detention Center

Red Willow Detention Center

• Operated byRed Willow County Sheriff's Office / Red Willow County Corrections
• Address516 Norris Avenue, McCook, Nebraska 69001 — opened September 2014, co-located with the Sheriff's Office
• VisitationTuesday–Friday, 8:30–10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m., run by Red Willow County Corrections
• What was tried for capacity/PREA/roster/fees/bondhttps://www.rwsheriff.org and https://redwillowcountyne.gov/sheriff-office/ — neither publishes bed capacity, a PREA audit result, an inmate roster, a fee schedule, or bond-posting guidance

Source: Red Willow County Sheriff's Office (rwsheriff.org) · checked 2026-08-25

• ✓The jail is named
• ✗Who is in custody — not published
• ✗Beds and daily population — not published
• ✓What it costs taxpayers
• ✗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 Red Willow 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 built2014
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byNot found
• BedsNot found

The Sheriff

Sheriff Kevin Darling

• Runs the jailYes — the Sheriff's Office facility houses both the Sheriff's Office and the Red Willow Detention Center (Neb. Rev. Stat. 47-105 and 23-1703)
• How the office is filledElected countywide, four-year term (Neb. Rev. Stat. 32-520); the county's own page does not restate this
• Office location516 Norris Ave, McCook, NE 69001

Source: Red Willow County, NE — Sheriff's Office (redwillowcountyne.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. Red Willow County's own court pages name only clerks (Gretchen Wiebe, County Court; Lori O'Dea, Clerk of District Court), not judges.

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 →