The Detention Center
Carbon County Jail and Communications Center
- Operated byCarbon County Sheriff's Office
- Address1302 East Daley Street, Rawlins, WY 82301 — a separate building from the sheriff's office and courthouse.
- Also calledThe county's own bid documents call it the “Carbon County Detention Facility (Jail).” Both names are the county's.
Source: Carbon County inmate information, carboncountywy.gov · checked August 21, 2026
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 built2005
- Original costNo single published figure
- Paid for byThree documented pieces, all from commissioner minutes: $7,500,000 applied for from the state Federal Mineral Royalty capital account; $7,500,000 from a countywide 1% specific-purpose sales tax; and $8,600,000 in lease revenue bonds issued by a county/city joint powers board in 2004.
- BedsNot published
The Sheriff
Sheriff Alex Bakken
- Office415 W. Pine Street, Rawlins, WY 82301. Phone 307-324-2776.
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Carbon County Sheriff, carboncountywy.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, 2nd Judicial District
- Hon. Susan Stipe — appointed February 2018; term expires January 2029
415 West Pine Street, Suite 235, Rawlins, WY 82301
District Court, 2nd Judicial District
- Hon. Dawnessa Snyder — appointed July 2017; term expires January 2031
415 West Pine Street, Rawlins, WY 82301
- 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 county uses two different names for its own jail in its own documents. Both are shown above rather than picking one silently.
- Carbon County publishes no capacity figure and no bed count for a jail built in 2005.
- The 2004 financing resolution refers to “a partially completed jail facility” and records litigation involving the original contractor. The county publishes no account of what happened.
- Minutes and agendas sit in separate archive categories; agendas are posted the Friday before each meeting.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Carbon 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 Carbon 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