The Detention Center
Garfield County Jail
- Operated byGarfield County Sheriff's Office
- Address375 North 700 West, Panguitch, UT 84759 (Garfield County Sheriff's Office/Jail)
- Jail CommanderJason Miller, per county Conflict of Interest disclosure filings
- What was triedgarfield.utah.gov/Departments/Sheriff checked for beds/year built/cost — not published
Source: Garfield County — Sheriff · checked 2026-08-24
Transparency rating
2/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✗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 found
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Eric Houston
- Runs the jailYes — Sheriff's Office manages the Garfield County Jail
- How the office is filledElected
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Garfield County — Sheriff · checked 2026-08-24
The Judges
Utah judges are appointed by the Governor through a nominating commission, then face retention election. They are state judicial officers, not county officials. The Sixth Judicial District covers the largest geographic area of any Utah district, spanning Garfield, Kane, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier, and Wayne Counties.
Sixth District Court — Presiding Judge
- Wallace A. Lee
- Marvin D. Bagley (District Judge)
- Brody L. Keisel (Juvenile and Domestic Judge)
Garfield County Justice Court
- Gary D. Owens
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to first appearance
Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-08-24
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
- Budget check is based on published county-wide budget hearing documents (Auditor/Clerk page), not a corrections-specific line-item budget.
- Three-member elected Garfield County Commission: Leland F. Pollock (Chair), Jerry A. Taylor, David B. Tebbs.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Garfield 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 2026-08-24 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered