Wheeler County

The Detention Center

None of its own. Wheeler County's prisoners are held at the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility (NORCOR) in The Dalles

• Operated byNorthern Oregon Regional Corrections, owned by Gilliam, Hood River, Sherman and Wasco counties. Wheeler County contracts into it and is not an owner
• Who runs itJoyce Orendorff — Jail Commander, Northern Oregon Regional Corrections - recorded as the facility's Warden/Jail Administrator in NORCOR's 2025 PREA audit report. Wheeler County's prisoners are held at NORCOR, so the jailer is NORCOR's commander, not the Wheeler County Sheriff, appointed by the The NORCOR Board of Directors, an ORS 190 intergovernmental board of delegates from Gilliam, Hood River, Sherman and Wasco counties. Wheeler County is not a member and has no seat on that board; it contracts in
• Where the prisoners goNORCOR Adult Facility, 201 Webber Street, The Dalles, OR 97058 - 541-298-1576. The Sheriff's Office's own Resources list carries a link headed 'Northern Oregon Regional Corrections Facility (NORCOR)'
• How manyOne. NORCOR's board minutes for 16 July 2026 record the current jail population as 'US Marshals 43, Wasco 38, Hood River 20, Sherman 1, Gilliam 1, Wheeler 1, Courtesy Hold 0'. Wheeler is listed separately from the four owner counties
• Where the facility standsDesigned capacity 250, average daily population 121 for the 12 months to October 2025, 15 housing units - NORCOR's figures to its PREA auditor
• What Wheeler paysNot found. NORCOR's budget lists county subsidies for the four member counties; no Wheeler County contract, per-day rate or annual figure is published by either NORCOR or Wheeler County
• What was triedThe Wheeler County Sheriff's Office page and its Forms, Fees and Resources lists, the County Court page, the Justice Court page, the Circuit Court page and the county's Government Directory were all read. Wheeler County publishes no roster, no capacity, no corrections budget line, no bail guidance, no fee schedule for calls or commissary, no PREA material and no inspection result. Its Sheriff's Office fee schedules cover civil process and real property sales only

Source: Wheeler County Sheriff's Office - Resources · checked 2026-08-23

• ✓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

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Wheeler 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 applicable - Wheeler County has no jail. NORCOR, where its prisoners go, was formed in 1996 under ORS 190 and the four-county regional jail partnership dates to 1999
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byNot found
• BedsNone of its own. NORCOR's designed capacity is 250

The Sheriff

Sheriff Jeremiah Holmes

• Runs the jailNo jail to run. Wheeler County has no custodial facility; its prisoners are lodged at NORCOR in The Dalles, which the Sheriff's Office lists among its Resources
• How the office is filledElected. The county's own Sheriff's Office page records 'Elected: 11/3/2024, Term Ends: 2028'
• Office701 Adams St., P.O. Box 447, Fossil, OR 97830 - phone and fax 541-763-4101; after-hours non-emergency 541-384-2080; sheriff@wheelercountyor.gov
• Age of the office'The Wheeler County Sheriff's Office dates back to 1899, when the first Sheriff, Perry Lewis "Lew" Keeton was appointed to serve as the first Wheeler County Sheriff'
• How this was verifiedNamed, with election date and term end, on the county's own Sheriff's Office page

Source: Wheeler County Sheriff's Office · checked 2026-08-23

The Judges

Oregon Circuit Court judges are state judicial officers, not county officials. They are elected in nonpartisan races to six-year terms under Article VII of the Oregon Constitution and ORS chapter 3; mid-term vacancies are filled by gubernatorial appointment and the appointee then stands for election. A judge, not the sheriff, sets security (bail) amounts and release conditions; the sheriff's office or the jail only receives the money and releases the person. ORS 169.320 makes the sheriff the keeper of the county jail and allows the sheriff to appoint a keeper, but the sheriff remains responsible. Justices of the Peace in Oregon are the hybrid office: a JP is both a state-authorised judicial officer and a county elected official, elected to a six-year term, with the county paying for the court. Wheeler County has no resident circuit judge. In the county's own words, 'There are four judges within the 7th Judicial District who travel to Wheeler County on a monthly rotational basis.' Note also that Wheeler County's governing body is called the County Court and is chaired by a County Judge who 'also handles juvenile and probate court matters' while being 'primarily devoted to nonjudicial administrative responsibilities as a member of the county board' - a county officer, not a circuit judge.

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 →