Seward County

The Detention Center

Seward County Detention Center

• Operated bySeward County; Sara Stenger, Director, per the county's own site
• AddressJustice Center, 261 S 8th Street, Suite 099, Seward, NE 68434
• Capacity58 inmates, pre-trial and sentenced, per the county's own detention-center page
• Counties servedThe facility's own inmate-list page is labeled 'Current Jail Inmate List for Seward, Saline, and York Counties' — no per-diem rate is published on the county's own site
• Bond types acceptedFull cash or 10% bonds only; other bond types go through the Court of Jurisdiction; cash accepted 24/7 via lobby kiosk

Source: Seward County Detention Center · checked 2026-08-25

• ✓The jail is named
• ✗Who is in custody — not published
• ✓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 Seward 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
• Beds58

The Sheriff

Sheriff Michael Vance

• Runs the jailThe Sheriff's Office and the Detention Center are listed as separate departments of the county's Justice Center on the county's own site; the Detention Center has its own director
• How the office is filledElected countywide on a partisan ballot, four-year term (Neb. Rev. Stat. 32-520)

Source: Seward County Sheriff · checked 2026-08-25

The Judges

Nebraska district and county court judges are merit-selected: a judicial nominating commission sends the Governor at least two qualified nominees on a vacancy, the Governor appoints (or the Chief Justice does after 60 days), and the judge then faces a nonpartisan retention vote at the next general election more than three years out, and every six years thereafter (Neb. Const. Art. V §21). Seward County's own site lists five county court judges riding the Fifth Judicial District, not a single judge assigned solely to Seward.

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 →