The Detention Center
The county publishes no formal name for this facility.
- Operated byNewton County Sheriff's Office
- County publishes a jail nameNo - the Sheriff page carries contact details only, with no jail, roster, visitation, bond or commissary content.
- Correctional Services pagehttps://www.co.newton.tx.us/page/newton.Corrections exists but holds only a phone number (409-379-3000) and the courthouse address - no facility name, operator, beds or contracts
- What was triedhttps://www.co.newton.tx.us/page/newton.Sheriff ; https://www.co.newton.tx.us/page/newton.Corrections ; https://www.co.newton.tx.us/page/newton.Commissioners.Court ; https://www.co.newton.tx.us/page/newton.Budgets ; https://www.co.newton.tx.us/page/newton.Public.Notices
- Beds and population, 2026-089 people held in 14 rated beds
Source: Newton County - Correctional Services · checked 2026-08-22
Transparency rating
1/10Closed- ✗The jail is named — not published
- ✗Who is in custody — not published
- ✗Beds and daily population — not published
- ✓What it costs taxpayers
- ✗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 published by the county. TCJS rates the Newton County jail at 14 beds (Aug 1, 2026 population report).
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Colton Havard
- Published as"Sheriff Colton Havard"
- Address110 E. Court Street, Newton, TX 75966
- Phone409-379-3636
- Fax409-379-3071
- Emailnewtoncountysheriff@co.newton.tx.us
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Newton County - Sheriff · checked 2026-08-22
The Judges
Four JP precincts, each seated in a different town. The 1-A District Judge's office is in the Jasper County Courthouse.
County Judge
- Ronald J. Cochran
District Courts
- Craig M. Mixson (1st Judicial District)
- Delinda Gibbs Walker (1-A Judicial District)
Justices of the Peace
- Connie Smith (Pct. 1, Kirbyville)
- Carla Brooks (Pct. 2, Wiergate)
- Mike Greer (Pct. 3, Newton)
- Dana Ashmore (Pct. 4, Deweyville)
County Court at Law
- Not found - the county links a County Court at Law page but publishes no judge name on it
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to first appearance
Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-08-22
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
- Newton County publishes no written agendas or minutes; instead it posts YouTube video recordings of every Commissioners Court session from 2019 through 2026 on the Commissioners Court page.
- Adopted budgets 2009-2026 and audited financial statements 2008-2024 are published under Financial Transparency.
- TCJS Aug 1, 2026 population report: 9 held against 14 rated beds, with a further 14 Newton County prisoners housed elsewhere - more out of county than in it.
- Newton County is not on the TCJS non-compliant list as of Aug 2026.
- Four commissioners plus the County Judge, who presides. Pct. 1 Danny Bentsen, Pct. 2 Phillip A. White, Pct. 3 Prentiss Hopson, Pct. 4 Leonard "Bubba" Powell; County Judge Ronald J. Cochran presides. Court meets the second Tuesday of each month at 9:00 a.m.
- County seat: Texas State Library and Archives Commission — Counties and County Seats
The record
No death in the Newton County jail appears on the state's record since 2016.
Deaths: Texas Justice Initiative, the cleaned copy of the Texas Attorney General’s custodial death reports — the state’s own public index carries no cause of death and has not been refreshed since August 2025. Population: Texas Commission on Jail Standards monthly report. Counted, not estimated.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Newton 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 2026-08-22 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered