Mineral County

The Detention Center

Not found. Mineral County does not name a jail anywhere on its own website

• Operated byMineral County Sheriff's Office, by NRS 211.030 and NRS 248.050
• The county publishes no jail pageEvery page on www.mineralcountynv.us was enumerated. The Sheriff's Office section runs to Animal Control, Community Information, Constable Services, CCW Information, MCSO Directory, Fingerprinting, Careers, Public Records Request, Records Request, Road Conditions, Sex Offender Information and Sheriff Office Forms. There is no detention, jail, inmate, visitation, bail or fees page of any kind
• That a jail exists is proved by an agenda, not a web pageThe commission agenda of 4 February 2026 carried: 'Honorable Bill Ferguson, Sheriff - For consideration and possible action relative to paying $9,600.00 for one padded cell repair, out of the insurance reimbursement from the cell doors.' A padded cell and cell doors are jail fabric
• The county holds another county's prisonersThe commission agenda of 17 June 2026 carried: 'Honorable Bill Ferguson, Sheriff - For consideration and possible action relative to signing and accepting the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Mineral County and Esmeralda County for housing of Esmeralda County Detainees.' No rate appears in the agenda, and the minutes for that meeting were not yet published at the time of research - the published minutes run only to 20 May 2026
• And sends prisoners elsewhereLyon County's own 2024 Sheriff's Office Annual Report records 7 bookings into the Lyon County Detention Facility by the Mineral County Sheriff's Office that year
• Other jail-adjacent business before the board17 June 2026, an agreement with the Washoe County Sheriff's Office for forensic services (renewed 1 July 2026); 20 May 2026, 'finding funding to repair the Mineral County Sheriff's Office sewer lines in the downstairs bathrooms'; 2 February 2026, collective bargaining agreements for the Deputies Union and the Dispatch Association
• MoneyThe county publishes final budgets back to FY2017-18 on the Comptroller's Budget page, but the FY2026-27 final budget PDF is a 35 MB scanned image with no extractable text, so no corrections or detention line could be read from it
• What was triedEvery page of www.mineralcountynv.us; the Sheriff index and MCSO directory; the Justice of the Peace index and fines and fees pages; the Board of County Commissioners index, Meet the Board, Agendas and Minutes and Public Notices pages; the Comptroller's Budget page and the FY2026-27 final budget PDF; and eight 2026 commission agendas. The county publishes no jail name, no address, no roster, no bed count, no daily population, no budget line, no death in custody, no PREA material, no inspection result, no contract rate, no bail guidance and no fee schedule

Source: Mineral County, NV - Board of County Commissioners agenda, 17 June 2026 · checked 2026-08-23

• ✗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 Mineral County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked 2026-08-23. 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 William 'Bill' Ferguson

• Runs the jailYes by operation of law - NRS 211.030 makes the sheriff the custodian of the county jail and NRS 248.050 makes him responsible for the prisoners in it. The county publishes nothing at all about the jail, so this rests on statute and on commission agendas rather than on any county page
• How the office is filledElected. Commission agendas address him as 'Honorable Bill Ferguson, Sheriff'
• The county's own pageThe Sheriff page gives a mission statement, an address of Hawthorne, NV 89415 and a telephone number of (775) 945-2434, and nothing about detention
• Who works thereThe MCSO Directory lists the office as 'Sheriff, Undersheriff, Executive Secretary, Lieutenant, Sergeants, Deputies, Dispatchers, Animal Control Officers, and Honorary Chaplains' - no corrections or detention post appears anywhere in it
• He is also the constableA commission agenda of 4 February 2026 carried an item 'appointing the Sheriff Ex Officio as Constable to serve without additional compensation'
• Cross-checkThe Nevada Association of Counties 2026 county directory lists William Ferguson as Sheriff of Mineral County, at bferguson@mineralcountynv.org; the county's own directory page prints the name as 'Ferguson' with the same address and gives (775) 945-1046

Source: Mineral County, NV - Sheriff · checked 2026-08-23

The Judges

Nevada District Court judges are elected in nonpartisan district-wide races to six-year terms and Justices of the Peace are elected to six-year terms in their township. Both are state judicial officers under Article 6 of the Nevada Constitution, not county officials, although the county pays for the Justice Court. At first appearance it is normally the Justice of the Peace who sets bail; the Justice Court also holds preliminary examinations in felony and gross misdemeanour cases. Mid-term vacancies are filled by appointment - by the Governor for a District Court seat, by the board of county commissioners for a Justice of the Peace - and the appointee then stands at the next election. NRS 211.030 makes the sheriff the custodian of the county jail and NRS 248.050 makes the sheriff responsible for the prisoners in it, so the judge who sets bail and the officer who holds the prisoner answer to different electorates. Mineral County shares the Eleventh Judicial District Court with Lander and Pershing Counties; the district has a single department, and Bryce Shields took that seat on 5 January 2026. The Hawthorne Township Justice Court is the local bench, held by Karry Larramendy since 6 February 2025, and it is the Justice of the Peace who will normally set bail on a Mineral County arrest. Both of the judges serving this county took office within about a year of this research. The county's Justice of the Peace page publishes a detailed civil-infraction bond procedure - the contested-hearing bond must be paid by cashier's cheque or money order in the full amount of the civil penalty plus administrative assessments and fees - but nothing about posting bail to get someone out of custody.

Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-08-23

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 →