McCone County Sheriff's Office Inmate Bail & Bonds

The person rides out of the county to whatever jail has space. That can change from one case to the next. Ask the dispatcher at 406-485-3405 where the booking happened, then phone that jail. These nearby jails have beds:

• Dawson County Correctional Facility, 440 Colorado Blvd, Glendive, MT 59330, 406-377-7600. Dawson shares a judicial district with McCone.
• Richland County Jail, 300 12th Avenue NW, Sidney, MT 59270, 406-433-2919. It has room for about 40.
• Valley's jail in Glasgow, 501 Court Square, Glasgow, MT 59230, 406-228-4333.
• Roosevelt's jail in Wolf Point, through its Sheriff's Office at 416 1/2 2nd Ave. South, Wolf Point, MT 59201, 406-653-6230.
• Custer's jail in Miles City, 1010 Main Street, Miles City, MT 59301, 406-874-3301.

Only a judge. Under Montana law, officers must bring someone they arrest to a nearby judge "without unnecessary delay" (MCA 46-7-101). Release gets decided at that first hearing (MCA 46-9-109).

Here, most first hearings land in front of one local judge, a Justice of the Peace who also hears town cases as City Judge. That court sits at 1004 C Ave., Circle, MT 59215, 406-485-3548. Because the person is in a jail miles away, the judge may hold the hearing over a video link (MCA 46-9-206). Should a felony move on to District Court, the bail travels with it, and the district judge can change the amount (MCA 46-9-201).

By law, the judge reaches first for the gentlest terms that will do the job (MCA 46-9-108). Common choices:

• Signed promise. No money. The person pledges in writing to show up (MCA 46-9-111).
• Rules at home. Release comes with limits, like staying sober, giving up guns, keeping a curfew or staying away from someone.
• Cash. The court gets every dollar up front and keeps it while the case runs.
• Bond. You pay a fee, and a licensed agent signs for the full amount.
• Land. Montana property with enough debt-free value can be pledged (MCA 46-9-401).
• Driver's license. A few traffic tickets let the person turn in a license as security.

Where GPS ankle bracelets are on hand, the law expects one in certain cases. A second partner assault is one. Felony stalking is another.

Montana's top court sends lower courts a recommended bond list. It is advice, and a judge can set more or less. Each figure already counts state fees. A few 2026 numbers:

• Misdemeanor assault that hurts someone: $585, with a required trip before the judge
• Furnishing alcohol to anyone under 21: $535, judge required
• Second gambling violation within 5 years: $750
• Running a boat while impaired: $335
• Insurance fraud of $1,500 or less: $285, judge required
• Felonies like homicide: the list gives no figure, so the judge picks one

A handful of charges skip the list entirely. That group covers harming a spouse, ex, date or relative; choking a partner; stalking; and defying a protective order or no-contact order. Every one of these means waiting to see the judge (MCA 46-9-302). For the real figure, ask the jail holding the person, or call the court on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning.

Often, yes. State law lets a jailer or deputy accept bail for a judge if the amount comes from a posted list or appears on the warrant itself. Expect a signed receipt in return (MCA 46-9-302). Work through this list:

1. Phone the Sheriff's Office at 406-485-3405 to learn which jail took the person.
2. Ring that jail and spell out the full name. Share the birthday too.
3. Find out the bail figure and the charge. Ask if this charge needs a judge's look before release.
4. Ask which payment types work and who a money order should name.
5. Carry photo ID and the exact sum. Store the receipt with your important papers.

Yes, when bail comes from a posted list. Under Montana court rules, it may be paid at the court during open hours, and the list has to hang in the court office.

The Justice Court and City Court share one office at 1004 C Ave., Circle, MT 59215, 406-485-3548. Its doors are open just Tuesday and Wednesday, 9 AM to noon. Plan your trip around those six hours. At any other time, ask the jail instead.

Felony bail goes through the district court clerk down the hall, at 406-485-3410.

Whoever takes the money sets the rules, and that may be the holding jail or the court. Before the long drive, ask that office:

• Does it take paper money? Money orders? Cashier's checks? Cards?
• What name goes on the money order?
• Does a card payment add a fee?
• Does release happen right after payment?

Never put cash in an envelope. Be on guard if a stranger phones asking for gift cards, crypto or app transfers to free your loved one. Check any call like that with the Sheriff's Office at 406-485-3405.

State law gives bail agents a long title. The statute's wording is "surety bail bond insurance producer," a phrase you may see on contracts. Licensing runs through Helena, at the office of the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance (MCA 33-17-1601).

• The agent's fee is kept, even when charges get dropped.
• Many agents want collateral, like a pickup title. Get the return terms in writing.
• If court is skipped, the agent can arrest the person and hand them over. Unless it is urgent, the agent has to tip off local police beforehand (MCA 46-6-508).
• A bond only promises the person will appear. Fines and restitution are outside what it pays for (MCA 46-9-503).
• Look up the agent on the NAIC license lookup before signing anything.

Each bail settles a single case. Other things can still keep a person inside:

• A warrant from elsewhere. Since 2025, a judge in this county can't set bail on another place's warrant (MCA 46-9-201).
• Extradition back to Montana. The person first faces the judge who signed the warrant (MCA 46-9-105).
• Probation or parole. Judges weigh it (MCA 46-9-109). The state probation and parole office in Glendive is at 606 N Merrill, Glendive, MT 59330, 406-377-4086.
• Another case. A second charge can carry its own bail.
• Federal or ICE holds. Those get their own answers later on this page.

Before any money changes hands, have the holding jail read you every hold.

Montana's Constitution promises bail to almost every accused person. Only a capital case is left out, and only when "the proof is evident or the presumption great" (Mont. Const. art. II, sec. 21). Bail may not be set too high, either (Mont. Const. art. II, sec. 22).

Even so, pretrial jail is allowed when a judge sees probable cause that no set of conditions can guarantee a return to court (MCA 46-9-106). The judge weighs the charge, criminal history, any earlier skipped court dates, risk to the public and roots in the area (MCA 46-9-109).

On bail, the prosecutor's side is argued by the County Attorney, P.O. Box 58, Circle, MT 59215, 406-485-3530.

Both sides have a right to ask for new bail terms. The judge can lower, raise or reshape them (MCA 46-9-311), once the other side has been told.

1. The defense lawyer files the request on paper with whichever court has the case.
2. Round up proof of a paycheck, a local home, nearby family and an honest budget. Montana bans bail that is "oppressive" and makes judges think about the person's money (MCA 46-9-301).
3. Suggest terms that answer the judge's fears, such as twice-daily sobriety tests.

To learn how a hearing gets set, call the Justice Court at 406-485-3548 during its Tuesday or Wednesday hours, or the district clerk at 406-485-3410.

Yes. The county is listed as a member of Montana's 24/7 Sobriety and Drug Monitoring Program, which the state Department of Justice runs. When alcohol or drugs played a part, a judge may make the program a bail condition. That covers a second DUI, an aggravated DUI, or some family abuse cases (MCA 44-4-1205).

• The usual test is blowing into a breath tester in person, twice a day, about 12 hours apart (MCA 44-4-1203).
• Local law enforcement picks the test site and the times.
• The person pays. State rules allow a sign-up fee of up to $30, on top of a charge per test.

To learn where and when people test, ask the Sheriff's Office at 406-485-3405.

Yes, for many people. At the first hearing, the judge must bring up the right to counsel (MCA 46-7-102). Montana's public defender handles felonies, misdemeanors that might bring jail time, and youth cases.

Two groups qualify. First, homes with income at 133% of the poverty level or less. Second, anyone who could not hire a private lawyer without serious strain. Having work, or having bail money, can't alone be grounds for a no (MCA 47-1-111). The court looks over the sworn money form.

• Glendive office: 100 1/2 S. Merrill, Suite 3, Glendive, MT 59330, 406-987-6010
• Sign up through the public defender application site

Both local courts work out of one building on C Avenue in Circle, but each has its own mailbox.

• Justice of the Peace and City Judge (misdemeanors, town cases and early felony steps), 1004 C Ave., Circle, MT 59215, 406-485-3548. Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday, 9 AM to noon. Mail: P.O. Box 192, Circle, MT 59215.
• Seventh Judicial District Court (felonies), through the Clerk of District Court, 1004 C Ave., Circle, MT 59215, 406-485-3410. Mail: P.O. Box 199, Circle, MT 59215.
• Federal court, Billings Division, 2601 2nd Avenue North, Suite 1200, Billings, MT 59101, 406-247-7000.

If every court date is kept, the court returns cash bail when the case wraps up (MCA 46-9-502). Only the person named on the receipt gets it, so hold on to that slip.

If the person misses a hearing, the judge can declare the bail lost, which the law calls forfeited. A forfeiture triggers a mailed notice, both to the accused and to any bail agent. Mailing it late, past 10 working days, voids the bond (MCA 46-9-503).

• There is a 90-day window to come back or explain. With a solid reason, the judge may wipe out the forfeiture.
• Misdemeanor bail that is lost is kept by the local government where it was paid. Lost felony cash heads to the state (MCA 46-9-511).
• The judge may hand forfeited bail to a crime victim (MCA 46-9-512).

Phone the court that holds the money to ask about a refund. The Justice Court line is 406-485-3548.

At booking, the jail holding the person stores their wallet, phone and clothes. Call that jail ahead of release day. Ask how leftover account money gets paid out and when items can be picked up.

Things deputies took as evidence are handled apart from that. Ask the Sheriff's Office at 406-485-3405 about them. Bring photo ID, plus a signed note if you are collecting on the person's behalf. To see how jail accounts and refunds usually work, read our inmate money page.

Federal charges from this county land in the Billings Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. Billings is home to the James F. Battin Federal Courthouse. Send mail or walk in at 2601 2nd Avenue North, Suite 1200, Billings, MT 59101, or call the clerk at 406-247-7000, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

• In federal court, the release question is settled at the person's first appearance. Only a lawyer's request can push that hearing back, and only briefly (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• The U.S. Marshals keep federal prisoners before trial. Their Billings office: 2601 2nd Avenue North, Suite 2300, Billings, MT 59101, 406-200-6004.
• Once a prison term begins, use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

No. A state bail payment does nothing to an ICE hold. Here is the usual path:

1. Immigration officers lodge a hold on paper. Its name is Form I-247A, a detainer.
2. Under it, the person may sit in jail up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Montana officers must follow the detainer. There is one way out: believable papers. Showing citizenship or lawful status with good documents ends the hold (MCA 27-16-801).
4. For McCone, the nearest ICE check-in office is 2900 4th Avenue, Suite 205, Billings, MT 59101, 406-247-4083. ICE's regional office for Montana sits in Utah: 2975 Decker Lake Drive, Suite 100, West Valley City, UT 84119, 801-736-1200.
5. Try the ICE Online Detainee Locator. It asks for a full name plus birth country.

A felony term over one year goes to the Montana Department of Corrections. Until state staff finish sizing up the person's needs, they tend to stay put in a county jail. Then comes a transfer, maybe to prison, maybe to prerelease, maybe to treatment.

• Track them on the state offender search. A name works, and so does a DOC number.
• Read about every site in our Montana state prisons guide.

Yes. Under Montana law, a person under 18 counts as a youth, and the case belongs to Youth Court, part of District Court (MCA 41-5-203). Booking alone can't justify a night for a youth in an adult jail. In rural places, a youth may be held up to a day while awaiting a hearing, weekends and holidays aside, and only if kept totally out of sight and sound of adults (MCA 41-5-349).

• For a detained youth, a judge must review probable cause before 24 hours pass. The clock pauses for weekends and holidays (MCA 41-5-332).
• Youths can be bailed out too. The amount must reflect what parents or guardians can pay (MCA 41-5-323).
• The juvenile probation officer who covers Richland and McCone counties can say where the youth is: 406-433-3011.