Washoe County

The Detention Center

Washoe County Detention Facility

• Operated byWashoe County Sheriff's Office, Detention Bureau
• Jail address911 Parr Blvd, Reno, NV 89512. Front desk 775-328-3001
• It is the only one'The Washoe County Sheriff's Office operates the only adult detention facility for pretrial detainees within Washoe County'
• Who it holds for'The Washoe County Detention Facility currently accepts detainees from over thirty law enforcement agencies, including those at the local, state and federal levels.' No agreement and no per-day rate is published
• When it opened and how big it was'In 1988, the existing Washoe County Detention Facility began operation with a housing capacity of 448 beds' - from the National Sheriffs' Association assessment the Office publishes on its own site
• How it grew'Through the years, the detention facility increased bed capacity by adding double bunks to the previously constructed and approved single-cell housing units. Additionally, the detention facility utilized a temporary tent structure, known as a Sprung Structure, and housed prisoners in a building constructed and designed as a substance abuse treatment facility. In 1999, the detention facility completed a major building expansion that added 256 beds open bay dorm-style, and again in 2008, an additional 264-bed expansion of high security cells'
• Daily population'The average daily inmate population level in 2017 was 1085 inmates.' That figure, published on the Office's own Detention Operations Division page, was nine years old at the time of research and is the only population number the county publishes
• Direct supervision'Designed as one of the first direct-supervision detention facilities in the nation, the Washoe County Detention Facility has become a model facility for jails in the United States.' The Office adds that the facility 'is routinely used as an example for other governmental agencies that are planning to construct new jails' and, through the proximity of the National Judicial College at the University of Nevada, Reno, 'functions as a stop for judges throughout the world'
• An independent assessment, publishedIn May 2017 the Office asked the National Sheriffs' Association's National Center for Jail Operations for a review of its detention facility and court services division; the project began in June 2017 and the executive summary is dated 22 May 2018. The scope covered intake and admission efficiency, the inmate classification system, a staffing analysis of sworn detention members, and recommendations on safety, supervision and standard operating procedures
• Staffing studiesThe same assessment records that 'Since 1996, there has been a minimum of 4 staffing studies conducted by objective and qualified correctional consultants' - in 1996, 1998, 2003 and 2011
• MedicalProvided under contract by NaphCare. The assessment describes bi-weekly case reviews between NaphCare physicians and Lakes physicians on transfers of care
• A death in custody, published'On August 15, 2026, at approximately 11:40 a.m., an inmate in custody at the Washoe County Detention Facility was found unresponsive in their cell by Washoe County Sheriff's Office deputies. The inmate was housed alone in the cell.' Deputies and on-site medical staff began life-saving measures, REMSA continued them, and the person was pronounced dead at approximately 11:58 a.m. The Sheriff's Office detectives and the Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner's Office are both investigating; 'The cause and manner of death remain under investigation. The initial investigation found no evidence of foul play or other criminal activity'
• Roster'Information regarding offenders currently incarcerated in the Washoe County Detention Facility is made available as a public service and in the interest of public safety... The Washoe County Sheriff's Office updates this information every 15 minutes to ensure that it is complete and accurate and only contains information for in-custody inmates'
• BailWithin 24 hours everyone is interviewed for own-recognizance release by Pre Trial Services; if refused, bail is set or the person is held without bail until seen by the court. The Office takes postal money orders with the amount typed or stamped and bonds from accepted bail agents except on cash-only bails and fines, plus remote card payment through GovPayNet. 'Once bail is posted, the release procedure takes up to eight hours.' Release for time served is usually at 5:00 a.m., there is no transport, and Citi-Fare buses run between the facility and downtown Reno
• A warning the county publishes about bail scams'Scammers may use publicly available inmate custody information to contact family members and falsly request payment for an inmate's release. Washoe County Sheriff's Office Staff will NEVER contactact you to request bail payments nor any payments through Venmo, Cash App, Bitcoin, gift cards, or other digital payment methods'
• Phone and mailSmart Communications. 'Inmates receive one (1) free 15-minute phone call per week', local, long-distance and international calls are 'billed at a per-minute rate, with no connection fees', and three-way calls are prohibited. Since 25 April 2022 personal postal mail goes to Smart Communications rather than the jail and is scanned to inmate kiosks; legal mail, court documents, business mail and publications still go to 911 Parr Blvd. No rate is published: 'Smart Communications may have additional taxes and fees, for a complete charge breakdown contact Smart Communications at the customer service number below'
• VisitingVideo visitation through Smart Communications, on-site in the public lobby Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. via kiosks, scheduled 24 hours in advance, with a government ID photo and a current face photo required
• PREA reportingThe Office publishes PREA Annual Reports for FY2017-18 through FY2022-23 and Annual Incident Reports back to FY2013-14. The reports are made under PREA Standard 115.88 - 'PREA requires an agency to collect and review data in order to assess and improve the effectiveness of its sexual abuse prevention, detection, and response policies, practices and training' - and 115.89 on public availability. Reporting routes inside the jail are a housing-unit kiosk grievance, a written grievance into a housing-unit PREA Confidentiality Box, or the crime tip hotline; PREA@washoecounty.us is the external address
• MoneyThe county's FY2026-27 final budget carries a combined 'Sheriff and Detention (150-0)' department at $185,657,446 final approved, against $181,519,426 estimated for the current year and $174,812,880 actual for the year ended 30 June 2025. Detention is not broken out from the Sheriff's other work in that line
• A dedicated jail taxThe same budget's property tax schedule carries a legislative override, 'H. Detention (AB395) (1993)', at a rate of 0.0774, producing an assessed levy of $25,025,392 and, after abatements of $5,344,638, net revenue of $19,680,754 for the year ending 30 June 2027. The revenue schedule shows it as an ad valorem line, 'Detention Facility', at $19,680,754, against $18,707,624 estimated for the current year and $17,403,297 actual for the year ended 30 June 2025
• What was triedThe Sheriff, Detention Bureau, Detention Operations Division, PREA, inmate search, inmate visiting, inmate mail and phone, and inmate bail and release pages on washoesheriff.com; the National Sheriffs' Association executive summary and the FY2022-23 PREA Annual Report; the Washoe County budget index and the FY2026-27 final state budget document; the Board of County Commissioners page. The Office's State of the Sheriff's Office annual reports for 2019 to 2025 are published but are 196 MB to 371 MB each and could not be retrieved within this researcher's limits, so nothing is cited from them

Source: Washoe County Sheriff's Office - About the Detention Operations Division · checked 2026-08-23

• ✓The jail is named
• ✓Who is in custody
• ✓Beds and daily population
• ✓What it costs taxpayers
• ✓Deaths in custody
• ✗PREA audits — not published
• ✓Independent inspection
• ✗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 Washoe 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 built1988 - 'In 1988, the existing Washoe County Detention Facility began operation with a housing capacity of 448 beds'
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byA dedicated county property tax. The FY2026-27 final budget carries a 1993 legislative override, 'H. Detention (AB395) (1993)', levied at 0.0774, producing net revenue of $19,680,754 for the year ending 30 June 2027, shown in the revenue schedule as an ad valorem line named 'Detention Facility' ($18,707,624 estimated current year; $17,403,297 actual for the year ended 30 June 2025). Operations sit inside a combined 'Sheriff and Detention (150-0)' department of $185,657,446
• Beds448 at opening in 1988, since increased by double-bunking single cells, a 256-bed open-bay dormitory expansion in 1999 and a 264-bed high-security expansion in 2008. The county publishes no current rated capacity; the most recent population figure it publishes is an average daily population of 1,085 in 2017

The Sheriff

Sheriff Darin Balaam

• Runs the jailYes. 'The Washoe County Sheriff's Office operates the only adult detention facility for pretrial detainees within Washoe County.' The Detention Bureau is one of the Office's three bureaus, alongside Operations and Administration
• How the office is filledElected. 'Darin Balaam is the 27th person elected to serve as Sheriff of Washoe County since the Office was founded in 1861. He took the oath of office on January 7, 2019 and was sworn in for a second term as Sheriff in December 2022'
• CareerMore than 26 years at the Washoe County Sheriff's Office, having 'held every rank from deputy sheriff to third-in-command as an Assistant Sheriff under Sheriff Mike Haley', with service across all three bureaus including Detention
• His stated priority for the jail'Sheriff Balaam is committed to continuing to enhance mental health services for inmates held within the Washoe County Detention Facility'
• Cross-checkThe Nevada Association of Counties 2026 county directory also lists Darin Balaam as Sheriff of Washoe County, at dbalaam@washoecounty.gov
• Where the Sheriff's pages livewww.washoecounty.gov/sheriff/ redirects to www.washoesheriff.com, which is the Office's operational site. Both are cited here as Washoe County publications

Source: Washoe County Sheriff's Office - Sheriff Darin Balaam · 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. Washoe County is served by the Second Judicial District Court with sixteen departments - one of which, Department 13, is recorded as vacant in the Nevada Judicial Directory of 17 March 2026 - and by four justice courts: Reno with six departments, Sparks with four, and single-judge courts at Incline Village and Wadsworth. That is twenty-eight county-level judicial seats feeding a single jail at 911 Parr Blvd. Reno and Sparks also run municipal courts, which are city benches rather than county ones. Because the Washoe County Detention Facility 'accepts detainees from over thirty law enforcement agencies, including those at the local, state and federal levels', a substantial share of the people held there were put there by courts and agencies that no Washoe County voter elected.

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 →