Rogers County, Oklahoma — The Jail, the Sheriff, the Judges

The Detention Center

Amos G. Ward Detention Center

Operated byRogers County Sheriff's Office, Detention Division
Name as the county writes itAmos G. Ward Detention Center (the Sheriff's Office page also writes it 'Amos G Ward Detention Facility' and 'Amos G Ward Detention Center' without the period on the same page)
Name the state usesROGERS COUNTY DETENTION FACILITY — differs from the county's usage
State facility IDDET-103
Named forAmos G. Ward, the 12th Sheriff of Rogers County, sworn in January 1949 and serving until his retirement in 1981; born September 29, 1916 in Leach, Oklahoma
OperatorThe Detention Division of the Sheriff's Office operates the facility
Capacity as the county states it'The Amos G Ward Detention Center holds approximately 250 inmates and employs 35 officers.'
State inspectionOklahoma inspects this jail. Read the state report →

Source: Rogers County — official source · checked August 21, 2026

Transparency rating

4/10Partial

✓The jail is named
✓Who is in custody
✓Beds and daily population
✗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
✗How to post bond — not published
✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Rogers County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked August 21, 2026. 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 built2000 — 'The detention center was built in 2000 and named for former Rogers County Sheriff, Amos G Ward.'
Original costNot found
Paid for byNot found
BedsApproximately 250 as the Sheriff's Office states it ('holds approximately 250 inmates'); no rated capacity is given in the 2026 state inspection report

Since then

Not found

The Sheriff

Sheriff Scott Walton

NoteConfirmed identically by the Sheriff's Office official .gov site, the Oklahoma State Election Board 2024 roster and the Oklahoma Sheriffs' Association directory.

Still needed

Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail

Source: Rogers County Sheriff's Office · checked August 21, 2026

The Judges

Oklahoma elects its district judges in nonpartisan elections. District and associate district judges set bond and decide who waits in this jail.

District Court, Judicial District 12

Hon. Stephen Pazzo — District Judge, 12th Judicial District (chambers: Rogers County Courthouse, (918) 923-4967)
Hon. Lara Russell — District Judge, 12th Judicial District (chambers: Rogers County Courthouse, (918) 923-4963)
Hon. Shawn Taylor — District Judge, 12th Judicial District (chambers: Mayes County Courthouse, One Court Pl., Rm. 240, Pryor)
Hon. Sue Nigh — Associate District Judge, Rogers County ((918) 923-4964)
Hon. Tamera Childers — Special Judge, Rogers County ((918) 923-4965)
Hon. Terrell Crosson — Special Judge, Rogers County ((918) 923-4966)
Hon. Melanie Lander — Special Judge, Rogers County ((918) 923-4968)

Rogers County Courthouse, 200 S.

Still needed

The county's bond schedule
Share of the jail population held pretrial
Median time from booking to first appearance

Source: the state judiciary · checked August 21, 2026

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

PUBLIC TRUST INVOLVED: the Rogers County Criminal Justice Authority is a public trust whose meetings are noticed and agendized alongside the county's own boards.
The county and the state use different names: the Sheriff's Office says 'Amos G. Ward Detention Center'; the Oklahoma State Department of Health inspection report is headed 'ROGERS COUNTY DETENTION FACILITY'.
Rogers County is the only county in this group whose sheriff's office holds and uses a live .gov domain (rogerscountysheriff.gov) while the county government uses a .org (rogerscounty.org). No Rogers County .gov is registered for the county itself.
The facility was found NOT in substantial compliance at its January 13, 2026 state inspection, on documentation of safety checks.
The `contracts` check is marked yes for the Criminal Justice Authority agendas in the Agenda Center, which itemize jail-related invoices and purchase-order ratifications. The county's separate bid page carries no jail-specific procurement.
No county-published budget, in-custody death record, PREA material, bond schedule, jail fee schedule, or inspection report was found.
Commissioners (2024 Election Board roster): District 1 Stephen 'Dan' DeLozier, District 2 Steve Hendrix, District 3 Ron Burrows; individual pages at /234, /235 and /236.

These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Rogers 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.

The sheriff is on your ballot

The county election board runs the polling place in Rogers County and prints the ballot the sheriff’s name is on. Links from the Oklahoma State Election Board and vote.gov.

Names verified August 21, 2026 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered