The Detention Center
Hidalgo County Detention Center
- Operated byHidalgo County (county department)
- Detention administrationHoracio Zambrano — Detention Administrator, Hidalgo County Detention Center
- 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 address83 Old U.S. 70, Lordsburg, NM 88045
- Phone575-542-3050
- Staff namedHoracio Zambrano, Detention Administrator; Mckenna Hendrix, Administrative Assistant
- MedicalThe July 2026 commission agenda lists Roadrunner Health Services Amendment #5 for detention medical services
- BedsNot found — the county publishes no capacity figure
- ReportingA Detention Center Quarterly Report is a standing item on the Board of County Commissioners agenda
Source: Hidalgo County Detention Center page · checked 2026-08-24
Transparency rating
1/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✗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
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
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff William Chadborn
- Runs the jailNo — the Hidalgo County Detention Center is a separate county department headed by a Detention Administrator
- Office address720 E. 2nd Street, Lordsburg, NM 88045
- How the office is filledElected county sheriff; the county's own page lists the sheriff under 'Appointed Officials' but the sheriff is an elected county office in New Mexico
- Cross-checkThe New Mexico Sheriffs' Association county sheriff list also records William Chadborn for Hidalgo County
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Hidalgo County Sheriff's Department page · checked 2026-08-24
The Judges
New Mexico district and magistrate judges are state judicial officers, not county officials. A judge is initially appointed by the Governor from a judicial nominating commission list, then stands in the next partisan general election, and thereafter faces non-partisan retention elections. The Sixth Judicial District covers Grant, Hidalgo and Luna counties; no district judge division is seated in Hidalgo County itself, and the district's judge pages name no chief judge.
Sixth Judicial District Court — the district serving Hidalgo County
- Thomas F. Stewart (Division I, Silver City, Grant County)
- Jennifer E. DeLaney (Division II, Deming, Luna County)
- James B. Foy (Division III, Silver City, Grant County)
- Jarod K. Hofacket (Division IV, Deming, Luna County)
Hidalgo County Magistrate Court
- Mark Thomas (Hidalgo County I, Lordsburg)
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to 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 →
Notes on the record
- Hidalgo County operates its own jail as a county department, headed by a Detention Administrator rather than by the elected sheriff.
- The county's site publishes a detention mission statement, address and staff contacts but no roster, capacity figure, budget, fee schedule or bail guidance. Pages checked: https://hidalgocounty.org/detention/ , https://hidalgocounty.org/county-sheriff/ , https://hidalgocounty.org/departments/ , https://hidalgocounty.org/document-category/minutes/ .
- The 8 July 2026 Board of County Commissioners agenda (https://hidalgocounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2026.07.08-Agenda-Hidalgo-Final-.docx) shows a standing Detention Center Quarterly Report and a detention medical contract amendment with Roadrunner Health Services; no per-diem contract to hold other agencies' prisoners was published.
- NMSA 1978 §33-3-1 provides that common jails are under the control of the respective sheriffs, independent contractors, or jail administrators hired by the board of county commissioners.
- New Mexico has no mandatory statewide jail inspection body. The New Mexico Association of Counties runs a voluntary accreditation program; no NMAC accreditation status for Hidalgo County was found published.
- NMSA 1978 §33-15-3, the death-in-custody reporting statute, applies to private correctional facilities only. New Mexico county jails have no state death-reporting requirement.
- The county's website is behind a Sucuri challenge; the domain hidalgocountynm.org is a parked page and was not used.
- Three-member Board of County Commissioners: Art Malott (Chair), Joel Edwards (Vice-Chairman), Kelly Peterson. Meetings are held in the Commission Chambers at 305 Pyramid Street, Lordsburg.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Hidalgo County and what it costs the people who live here. Nationally, almost 77% of the people who died in local jails in 2019 had not been convicted of anything, and suicide was the leading single cause of those deaths (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2019).
How much is your sheriff — and your judge — costing you?
Your VOTE is POWERFUL.
The sheriff who runs this jail is elected. So are the commissioners who pay for it.
Names verified 2026-08-24 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered