Eddy County

The Detention Center

Eddy County Detention Center (ECDC)

• Operated byEddy County
• Detention administrationBilly Massingill — Administrator for the Eddy County Detention Center and the Alternative Sentencing Unit (deputies: Maria Merjil, Chief Deputy Administrator; Alicia Moreno, Captain and PREA programme lead)
• Reporting lineNot established. The county's own site could not be opened to confirm whether detention sits under the Sheriff's Office or is a separate county department.
• Jail address201 N Main, Carlsbad, NM 88220 (mail P.O. Box 1388, Carlsbad, NM 88221-1388)
• Phone(575) 887-7556
• Alternative Sentencing Unit201 N Canyon, Carlsbad — run by the same Administrator
• Artesia sub office702 W Chisum, Artesia (detention office also listed at the Artesia Safety Complex, 3300 W Main St.)
• Detainee lookupCounty detention page links a public detainee lookup with an alphabetical roster report
• Health careRegistered Nurse on duty seven days a week; State Licensed physician as Medical Director; mental health via Carlsbad Mental Health Center; the county states the detention center 'is seeking national accreditation for compliance with the standards of the National Commission on Correctional Health Care'
• Money and commissary vendorsAccess Corrections for detainee accounts, Securus for phone accounts, nmcountypackages.com for care packs with a $50 monthly spending limit
• New facilityThe county publishes a 'Detention Center Groundbreaking' page carrying architect presentations to the County Commission dated 18 November 2025 and 10 February 2026
• BedsNot found published on the county site
• What was triedhttps://www.eddycountynm.gov/150/Detention-Center ; /152/Artesia-Sub-Office-Detention ; /653/Detention-Center-Groundbreaking ; /168/Finance-Department ; /183/Elected-Officials ; site search for 'beds', 'bond' and 'PREA'

Source: Eddy County Detention Center · checked 2026-08-24

• ✓The jail is named
• ✓Who is in custody
• ✗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 Eddy County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked 2026-08-24. 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 byEddy County's own FY2023-2024 Final Budget carries dedicated detention departments — 600 Detentions Admin, 610 Detentions Male Unit, 620 Detentions Female Unit and 650 Detentions ASU — including a Prisoner Boarding line. The county's FY2024-2025 budget document lists capital projects 'DETENTION CENTER - NEW' budgeted at $11,000,000 (with $6,912,873 expended and $4,087,127 remaining at the reporting date) and 'DETENTION CENTER - LEASE' budgeted at $2,020,000. Detention-related special revenue funds named are Correction Fees, Detention Concession, Jail Improvements, Detention SSA Initiative and Southwest Border Patrol Initiative.
• BedsNot found

The Sheriff

Sheriff Matt Hutchinson

• Runs the jailNo — the Eddy County Detention Center is listed under 'Departments of the Commissioners' with its own Administrator; the Sheriff's Office is a separate elected office
• How the office is filledElected county sheriff
• Sheriff's officeEddy County Sheriff Complex, 1502 Corrales Drive, Carlsbad, NM 88220
• Source noteThe county's own Sheriff's Office and Elected Officials pages do not name the current officeholder; the name is taken from the New Mexico Sheriffs' Association county sheriff roster

Source: New Mexico Sheriffs' Association — county sheriffs · checked 2026-08-24

The Judges

New Mexico judges are initially appointed by the Governor to fill a vacancy, then stand in a partisan election at the next general election, and thereafter face non-partisan retention elections. They are state judicial officers, not county officials. The Fifth Judicial District serves Chaves, Eddy and Lea counties. Magistrate judges normally set conditions of release at first appearance.

Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-08-24

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 →