The Detention Center
Big Horn County Detention Center
- Operated byBig Horn County Sheriff's Office, Detention Division
- Address415 Murphy Street, Basin, WY 82410. Phone 307-568-9311.
- Opened2001. The county states an 86-bed capacity.
- Also calledThe county's own page headline says “Big Horn County Jail” while the text says Detention Center.
- Holds for othersThe county's page lists contracts to house prisoners for the U.S. Marshals Service (Montana and Wyoming), the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Source: Big Horn County detention, bighorncountywy.gov · checked August 21, 2026
Transparency rating
5/10Partial- ✓The jail is named
- ✓Who is in custody
- ✓Beds and daily population
- ✓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
- ✗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 built2001
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byPartly grant-funded, per a local news history; the program and amount were not found
- Beds86
The Sheriff
Sheriff Jason Beal
- OfficeP.O. Box 69, Basin, WY 82410. Phone 307-568-2324.
- Command staffChief Deputy Mark Raymond; Detention Captain Debbie Cook.
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Big Horn County Sheriff's Office staff, bighorncountywy.gov · checked August 21, 2026
The Judges
Wyoming splits the bench. Circuit Court handles initial appearances — the first place bond is set. District Court takes felonies after bindover.
Circuit Court, 5th Judicial District
- Hon. Edward G. Luhm — appointed January 2019; term expires January 2029
- Magistrate Randy L. Royal — appointed July 2003; term expires January 2029
420 West C Street, Basin (also sits at 355 East 5th Street, Lovell)
District Court, 5th Judicial District
- Hon. Bobbi Overfield — appointed October 2018; term expires January 2027
420 West C Street, Basin, WY 82410
- 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
- The circuit court sits in two towns, Basin and Lovell, with the same judge and magistrate.
- Parts of the county's detention page are dated — it still cites jail revenue figures from fiscal year 2013–2014.
- The county discloses that it holds prisoners for the U.S. Marshals (Montana and Wyoming), the Bureau of Prisons and the Bureau of Indian Affairs “for a fee that is negotiated with each agency” — but publishes no rate. The revenue figure it does publish, over $1 million, is from fiscal year 2013–14.
- Detention budget: $1,995,645 in the FY2025–26 approved budget.
- Agendas and minutes are on two separate pages here.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Big Horn 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.
- Find your polling place — Wyoming Polling Place Locator →
- Your county clerk — the office that runs the election (PDF) →
- Register to vote in Wyoming →
In Wyoming the county clerk runs the election in Big Horn County and prints the ballot the sheriff’s name is on. Links from the Wyoming Secretary of State and vote.gov.
Names verified August 21, 2026 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered