Rock County

The Detention Center

Not found

• Operated byNot found
• What was triedhttps://rockcountyne.gov/ ; https://rockcountyne.gov/government/ ; https://rockcountyne.gov/local-information/ — none mentions a jail, detention center, or where Rock County holds its prisoners. Rock is a very small county (Bassett and Newport combined population 1,526 per the county's own site) so it plausibly contracts with a neighboring county, but this was not confirmed from any source opened

Source: · 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 Rock 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 Ben Shelbourn

• Runs the jailNot established — no jail/detention page exists on the county's own site; Neb. Rev. Stat. 47-105 and 23-1703 give the sheriff statutory custody of the county jail where one exists
• How the office is filledElected countywide, four-year term (Neb. Rev. Stat. 32-520); the county's own page does not restate this
• Office locationPO Box 679, Bassett, NE 68714

Source: Rock County, NE — Government/County Officials (rockcountyne.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. Rock County's own government page names Kami Hooey as County Court Judge; no District Court judge is named on the county's site.

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 →