Benton County

The Detention Center

Benton County Jail

• Operated byBenton County Corrections Department
• Who runs itRobert Guerrero — Chief, Benton County Corrections Department, appointed by the Not stated on the county site. Corrections is a county department under Administration rather than a bureau of the Sheriff's Office; the county's own budget page says the Commissioners are 'responsible for the operation of budgets under the control of appointed department heads', which is where Corrections sits.
• Jail address7122 W. Okanogan Place, Suite B110, Kennewick, WA 99336 — part of the Benton County Justice Center; 509-783-1451
• Published capacity720 inmates
• Published populationAverage daily population of about 475 (Corrections page)
• 2025 average daily population359.25; 7,659 admissions; average length of stay 21.3 days (WASPC 2025)
• In-custody deaths 2025WASPC's 2025 jail statistics record 'Yes' for in-custody deaths at the Benton County Jail; the county publishes nothing about them
• New facility openedApril 1, 2003, with 561 beds
• ExpansionRenovation of the old jail brought the connected facilities to 720 beds
• Who it holdsAll law enforcement jurisdictions in Benton County — Kennewick, Richland, West Richland, Prosser, Benton City — plus contract agencies elsewhere in the state; no rates published
• Command staffChief Robert Guerrero; Lieutenants Joshua Combs, Kasey Kist and Joshua Shelton; three divisions (Operations, Administrative, Support)
• Public safety fundingVoters approved Proposition 14-5 in August 2014, a 3/10 of one percent public safety sales and use tax under RCW 82.14.450, shared between the county and its cities
• Original cost / funding of the 2003 buildingNot found — checked the Corrections About Us page, the budget documents page and the Public Safety Sales Tax pages

Source: Benton County — Corrections · checked 2026-08-23

• ✓The jail is named
• ✓Who is in custody
• ✓Beds and daily population
• ✓What it costs taxpayers
• ✗Deaths in custody — not published
• ✓PREA audits
• ✗Independent inspection — not published
• ✗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 Benton 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 built2003 — the new jail opened to inmates on April 1, 2003
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byNot found
• Beds720 (Corrections page); the 2003 building opened with 561 beds and renovation of the old jail brought the connected facilities to 720

The Sheriff

Sheriff Mike Clark

• Runs the jailNo — the Benton County Corrections Department does. It is listed on the county site under Departments > Administration, separate from the elected Sheriff
• How the office is filledElected countywide. Clark, a 22-year veteran of the office, took office on November 20 after being appointed to the vacancy (NBC Right Now)
• UndersheriffJon Law
• What the office does runPatrol, investigations, civil, concealed pistol licences, and law enforcement for Benton City and the Hanford Nuclear Reservation
• OfficeBenton County Justice Center, 7122 W. Okanogan Place, Bldg. A120, Kennewick, WA 99336; business office at the Prosser courthouse

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

The Judges

Washington Superior Court judges are elected in nonpartisan countywide races, and District Court judges are elected in nonpartisan district races. Both are state judicial officers, not county officials — the county pays part of the cost but does not choose the judge. A judge, not the sheriff or the jail, sets bail. Court rosters here come from the Administrative Office of the Courts' county directory. No presiding judge is designated for either Benton County bench in the state court directory.

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 →