Start with the Sheriff's Office. Its deputies patrol the town and the rest of the county, so it hears about almost every local booking.

1. Phone 406-557-2540.
2. Spell out the legal name, plus any nickname or past last name, and give the birth date.
3. Ask which jail took the person, the booking date and the charges.
4. Ask for the jail's own phone number and any booking or jacket number.
5. Call that jail next about release times, deposits and calls.

For an emergency, dial 911. Calls here are answered by the Custer/Garfield 911 center in Miles City.

Open the official jail lookup and enter the last name. Add a first name if the list is long. Compare the age or birth date, since two people can share one name.

Any online list lags behind real life. Someone booked an hour ago, or moved since breakfast, may be missing or still listed. Use what you find as a lead. Then check it with the Sheriff's Office at 406-557-2540.

The Custer County Sheriff makes a fresh roster file each day, titled "CCDF Inmate Daily Roster." Open it from the Custer Sheriff's page. Each line gives:

• last and first name
• booking date and time
• each charge, with its Montana law number
• a jacket number, which is the jail's ID for that inmate
• the agency holding them, such as a sheriff's office or state corrections
• the bond, either a dollar figure or "No Bond"

Look in the agency column for the Sheriff's Office from Jordan. The file name carries the date and time it was printed, so check that too.

Most of the time, one of these explains it:

• On the road. The drive from here to a jail in another county is long, and booking takes time after that.
• Already free. Bail may be paid, or a judge may have released the person.
• Held for someone else. A state, federal or immigration hold can land a person in another jail.
• Typed another way. Try a middle name, maiden name or a second spelling.
• Under 18. Teens are kept apart from adult lists.

When none of that fits, call detention in Miles City at 406-874-3301, or try the Sheriff's Office in Jordan again.

Custer is the jail most tied to this county. Still, a person can land elsewhere, for example after an arrest near a county line. Call the Sheriff's Office first, then the jail it names:

• Custer County Detention Center, 1010 Main Street, Miles City, MT 59301, 406-874-3301. It had 32 beds in 2022.
• Rosebud County Detention Center, 180 S 13th Ave, Forsyth, MT 59327, 406-346-2715. Rosebud County borders this one on the south.
• Valley County's jail in Glasgow, 501 Court Square #10, Glasgow, MT 59230, 406-228-4333, a 24-hour line. Valley lies across Fort Peck Reservoir to the north.
• Fergus County Detention Center, 121 8th Ave S, Lewistown, MT 59457, 406-535-3415. Its roster has shown courtesy holds for several other counties.
• Phillips County keeps a short-term holding jail in Malta. Its Sheriff's Office is at 406-654-2350.

If your loved one is held in Miles City, these facts come from the Custer County Sheriff's page:

• Location. The Detention Center is behind the courthouse at 1010 Main Street, Miles City, MT 59301.
• Phones. Detention is 406-874-3301. The Sheriff's front office is 406-874-3320.
• Release times. People walk out at 8 a.m., 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. every day.
• Money. A lobby kiosk takes cash or cards for an inmate's account. Online deposits are capped at $300 a week.
• Contact. Text, voice and video calls run through a prepaid wallet with the jail's phone company, using tablet phones.
• Items. The page says the jail does not accept personal items for inmates.

For visiting rules and mail, call detention before you go.

Yes. Montana law lists booking photos as public, along with bail records and daily jail rosters (MCA 44-5-103). The state sets no limit on sharing that kind of record (MCA 44-5-301).

Because the photo is taken where the person is booked, ask that jail for it. For Miles City, call detention at 406-874-3301. The Sheriff's Office in Jordan can tell you where to ask if the person went somewhere else.

• For a photo ICE took, file a request through ICE's records office.
• Federal agencies seldom share mugshots, though the Marshals may release one to help catch a fugitive.

For a county jail stay, your best tools are the jail's own phone line and its daily roster. Ask detention how it handles release news for families.

• VINE is a free alert service. In Montana it covers grown-ups serving felony time with the state, in prison or out on parole, and sends a call, text or email when their status changes. Sign up through VINELink, or call 800-456-3076. Nobody is signed up for you.
• Victims in some violent cases get a heads-up from jail staff once the accused posts bail. These include partner assault, choking, stalking and order violations (MCA 46-9-108).

Release is up to the judge at the first hearing. In this county, the justice of the peace in Jordan most often hears it, 406-557-2733. Montana judges can still set money bail. They must still use the least strict terms that will work.

• For many misdemeanors, a state bond schedule suggests a figure.
• For felonies, the judge sets an amount case by case.
• A person charged with hurting a partner or relative sees a judge before any release.
• Bail for an outside warrant has to come from where that warrant started.

Sample amounts, payment steps and bondsman tips are on our bail page.

Rosters show the law number next to every charge. For example, 45-5-201 is assault. Any Montana law number can be read in full, at no cost, through the Montana Code Annotated.

Once a case is opened in court, the file holds the complete charge. Misdemeanor files are on the Justice and city court portal. Felony files sit on the District Court portal. The final charges are up to the County Attorney, 406-557-2480, P.O. Box 33, Jordan, MT 59337.

When the case is first called, the judge explains the right to counsel and how to request a free one. Montana's public defenders represent people facing a felony, a youth case or any charge that carries possible jail.

• Nearest office: 515 Main Street, Miles City, MT 59301, 406-851-7080.
• The online form is at advopd.mt.gov. Have recent paychecks and bank records ready to upload.

You are free to hire your own attorney as well. Ask jail staff how attorney visits and calls are arranged.

Visits depend on the jail, not on this county. Call the jail before you drive, since Miles City is a long trip from most of the county.

• At the Custer jail, phone 406-874-3301 to ask whether in-person visits are offered and how to book one.
• Video calls through the jail's phone company may save you the drive.
• Ask what ID to bring and what you may carry inside.

Our visitation page has more tips for a first jail visit.

Money on the books buys things like soap, snacks and phone credit. The Custer jail offers two ways to send it:

• Lobby kiosk. Feed it bills, or swipe a bank or credit card.
• Online. Make an account with the jail's deposit service and pick Montana, then the Custer County Sheriff. Online deposits top out at $300 per week.

Have the full name and jacket number from the roster. Never send cash by mail. See our guide to deposits, and our store list page for what inmates can buy.

At the Custer jail, inmates use tablet phones. Family and friends load money into a prepaid wallet with the jail's phone company. That wallet then pays for texts, voice calls and video calls. Start from the Custer Sheriff's page to find the right provider.

Treat every call as if others can hear it, and leave case talk for the lawyer. Read our inmate calling page and our jail messaging page for more.

Mail goes to the jail that holds the person, not to the Sheriff's Office in Jordan. Before you write to the Custer jail, phone 406-874-3301. Staff can give you the mailing address and say if the jacket number belongs on the envelope. Ask about photos and books too.

Put the inmate's full legal name and your return address on the envelope. Our inmate mail page covers common rules. Never tuck cash inside.

Things a person brings into jail are bagged and stored there, then handed back when they leave. For the Miles City jail, call 406-874-3301. Ask whether the person can sign a form so you can pick things up for them.

Items kept by deputies as evidence are a separate matter. Ask the Sheriff's Office at 406-557-2540. Take a photo ID to any pickup.

The jail that holds the person is in charge of their health care. Call detention in Miles City at 406-874-3301 as soon as you can. Tell staff each drug and how much is taken, and give the doctor's contact details.

Mention any fear of a mental health crisis right away. In a true emergency, call 911.

Warrants here, in town or out on the range, are served by the Sheriff's deputies, so the Sheriff's Office at 406-557-2540 is the office to ask. If a case has been filed, look for it on the state's misdemeanor court portal and felony court portal. Statewide, the Montana offender search shows people wanted by corrections for escape or for fleeing supervision. Want to clear a warrant? Get legal advice first. A lawyer can arrange a court date or a planned surrender. The Justice Court is at 406-557-2733, and felony warrants run through the District Court clerk, 406-557-6254.

Call whichever court is handling the charge:

• Justice Court and city court, in the courthouse at 352 Leavitt Avenue, Jordan, MT 59337, 406-557-2733.
• Clerk of District Court for felonies, same building, 406-557-6254.

Both state court portals list hearing dates by name too. A person held in Miles City may go to court in person or by video, so ask the court which it will be. Our court page explains each stage.

Federal cases from this area go to Billings, to the court at 2601 2nd Avenue North, Suite 1200, Billings, MT 59101, 406-247-7000.

1. Detention or release until trial is argued at the first federal hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Until trial, federal prisoners are in the Marshals' care, and the Marshals choose the jail. Ask the Marshals in Billings at 406-200-6004.
3. Track the court file on PACER.
4. Once sentenced, the person shows up on the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator, searchable by name or register number.

The detainer affects the day they would go free. Expect these steps:

1. ICE sends Form I-247A, the detainer, to the jail.
2. Staff can then hold the person for up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released. State law requires officers to honor it, unless the person has solid proof of citizenship or legal status (MCA 27-16-801).
3. ICE then transfers the person. The office in charge for Montana is in Utah, the Salt Lake City Field Office, 2975 Decker Lake Drive, Suite 100, West Valley City, UT 84119, 801-736-1200.
4. The Billings check-in office, 406-247-4083, serves this part of Montana.
5. The ICE Online Detainee Locator searches by A-number, or by full name together with the country of birth.

A person sentenced to the state often waits in county jail while corrections staff review them. Their name can appear on the state's search during that wait.

• The Montana offender search finds people by name or state ID and lists where they are housed.
• See our Montana prison guides for visiting and mail at each prison.
• The Miles City probation and parole office is at 509 Main Street, Miles City, MT 59301, 406-234-1962.

Teens stay out of adult jails, apart from the short stays the law allows. A district judge sitting as Youth Court takes their cases, and the files are kept from the public portals. A youth kept in detention has a right to a hearing inside 24 hours, with weekends and holidays skipped (MCA 41-5-332). To find the teen and hear what happens next, phone the Sixteenth District's Juvenile Probation office at 406-874-3418.

Each roster entry names the agency that made the arrest. Only about 1,148 people lived here as of July 1, 2025, by a Census estimate, across roughly 4,849 square miles. These agencies work here:

• Garfield County Sheriff's Office, 352 Leavitt Avenue, Jordan, MT 59337, 406-557-2540. Deputies cover the whole county. Since 2025, the town of Jordan pays the Sheriff to police its streets.
• Town of Jordan, Town Hall at 451 Main Street, Jordan, MT 59337, 406-557-2692, open weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a noon-hour break.
• Montana Highway Patrol, 18 Trooper Drive, Boulder, MT 59632, 24-hour dispatch 855-647-3777.
• Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), which runs along the north edge of the county. Its Fort Peck Field Station is at 270 Montana Hwy 117, Fort Peck, MT 59223, 406-526-3464.
• Custer/Garfield 911 Dispatch Center, run by Miles City Police at 1010 Main Street, Miles City, MT 59301. Non-emergency line 406-232-3411.