Dispatch hears about nearly every arrest in the county, so begin there. Here is what to do:

1. Dial 406-485-3405. A person answers at any hour.
2. Give the full legal name. Add any nickname or old last name, plus the birth date.
3. Ask where the person was booked, on what date, and for what charge.
4. Jot down the number for that jail and any booking number dispatch reads off.
5. Phone that jail next to ask about release, visits and deposits.

In an emergency, always call 911.

Open the official inmate lookup and type in the last name. If many names come up, add a first name. Match the age or birthday, because two people may share a name.

Treat any screen as a starting clue. Records can lag behind a fresh booking, a release or a move. Before you drive anywhere, double-check with dispatch at 406-485-3405 or with the jail itself.

The Sheriff's Office staff page lists a sheriff, an undersheriff and two deputies. A state report to lawmakers in 2022 showed zero jail beds for the county and zero people held on an average day. So the office books its arrests into jails that other counties run.

The jail used may depend on space that day, the charge, or where the arrest took place. That is why the Sheriff's Office is your best first call. Ask the dispatcher to name the jail and, if possible, give you its number.

These jails sit within a few hours of Circle. Each may take people from outside its own county:

• Dawson County Correctional Facility, 440 Colorado Blvd, Glendive, MT 59330, 406-377-7600. It had 28 county beds in 2022, and the state also rents space there for prisoners.
• Richland County Jail, 300 12th Avenue NW, Sidney, MT 59270, 406-433-2919, with space for up to 40.
• Valley County Detention Center in Glasgow, 501 Court Square, Glasgow, MT 59230, 406-228-4333. Valley shares a monthly jail roster on its county website.
• Roosevelt County's jail in Wolf Point, through the Sheriff's Office at 416 1/2 2nd Ave. South, Wolf Point, MT 59201, 406-653-6230. Its sheriff's page links a dated list of current inmates.
• Custer County Detention Center, 1010 Main Street, Miles City, MT 59301, 406-874-3301. A daily roster file is linked from the Custer sheriff's page.

Usually one of these is the reason:

• Still in transit. The drive to an out-of-county jail is long, and booking adds more time.
• Out already. Bail may be paid, or the judge may have ordered a release.
• Held for another agency. A state, federal or ICE hold can send a person to a different jail.
• Typed differently. Search under a second first name, a birth surname, or an alternate spelling.
• A minor. Youths go to juvenile detention, not an adult jail.

If none of those fits, call dispatch again at 406-485-3405, then work down the list of nearby jails.

In Montana, booking photos are public records. So are bail records and daily jail head counts (MCA 44-5-103). Public records of that type can be passed along freely (MCA 44-5-301).

• The jail that booked the person most likely holds the photo, so ask there first.
• The Sheriff's Office takes record requests on a Request for Records form. Questions go to 406-485-3405.
• Photos taken by ICE can only be sought through its records request system.

The jail that holds the person, or the dispatcher, can read you the charge and its Montana law number. Any statute can be read for free on the state's Montana Code Annotated website.

Formal charging papers spell everything out once a case is opened. The state's lower court portal holds misdemeanor files. Felony files sit on its District Court portal. Which charges stick is up to the County Attorney's office in Circle, 406-485-3530.

For a stay in a county jail, the most reliable method is calling the jail that holds the person every day or two.

• VINE sends free alerts through calls, texts or emails. Montana's version follows adults with felony convictions who are under state corrections, like prison inmates and parolees. Sign up yourself on VINELink, or phone 800-456-3076 at any hour.
• Alleged victims get a special notice. When bail frees a person accused of partner assault, strangulation, stalking or violating a protective order, the jail owes the alleged victim prompt word (MCA 46-9-108).

A judge settles release at the first hearing. Most of those happen before the Justice of the Peace and City Judge, 1004 C Ave., Circle, MT 59215, 406-485-3548. The office is open only Tuesday and Wednesday, 9 AM to noon, so plan calls for those mornings.

• Money bail still exists, but judges must start with the mildest terms that will work.
• Many misdemeanors have a starting amount on the state's recommended bond list.
• A felony has no listed amount. The judge chooses.
• Partner or family assault charges can't be bailed out until the judge has had a look.
• If the hold is a warrant from another county or state, the local judge can't set bail on it.

Amounts, payment and bail agents are all explained on our bail page.

Early in the case, a judge must go over counsel. A defense lawyer is allowed, and the state supplies one at no cost when money is short. Montana's Office of State Public Defender handles youth matters and any charge that carries possible jail time.

• Glendive office: 100 1/2 S. Merrill, Suite 3, Glendive, MT 59330, 406-987-6010
• Apply online at advopd.mt.gov. Have your latest pay stubs and bank records handy.

Hiring a private attorney is another route. Lawyer visits and calls are arranged through the holding jail, so check with it.

Visiting rules come from the jail holding the person. Each jail sets its own days, hours, ID rules and dress code. Some also offer video visits.

Once dispatch tells you the jail, call it and ask:

• which days and times are open, and whether you must book ahead
• what ID to bring, and the minimum age for visitors
• what you may carry in and what goes in a locker
• whether a past record could keep you from visiting

Our visiting guide offers broader advice for first-time visitors.

Yes. Account money lets a person buy snacks, soap and phone time. The jail that has the person decides which deposit options exist and how much you can send. Ask that jail, and keep their full name and any booking number in front of you.

Common deposit options are covered in our money guide. What the money can buy is in our commissary guide. Cash in the mail is never a good idea.

The holding jail picks the phone company and sets the rules. Call and ask how calls get set up, the price per call, and if tablets or messaging are available. Assume every call is recorded, except private talks with a lawyer.

Leave details of the case out of these calls. Save them for the defense attorney. For more, see our jail phone guide and our inmate email and text guide.

Mail goes to the jail that has the person, using that jail's own address and rules. Before you write, call that jail and ask for the inmate mailing address and whether to add a booking number. Ask too about photos, books and postcards.

On the envelope, print the person's legal first and last name, and include your own return address. Our mail guide lists typical rules. Keep money out of letters.

What the person carried at booking stays in the holding jail's property room until release. Want something sooner? Call that jail and ask whether the person has to sign it over. Bring photo ID.

For anything deputies seized as evidence, the Sheriff's Office handles it. Call 406-485-3405.

The jail holding the person is in charge of their care. Sickness, an injury or a missed prescription all call for a quick phone call to that jail. Tell staff the medicine, how much they take, and how to reach their doctor.

Mention any mental health crisis in plain words. In a life-or-death emergency, call 911.

Several state tools can help, and the county website links to them:

• A statewide criminal history check by name costs $20 on the state's CHOPRS search.
• The Sexual and Violent Offender search shows registered offenders.
• People who must register here set an appointment with the dispatch supervisor at 406-485-3405.
• Local reports can be requested on the Sheriff's Office records form.

Across the county, it is sheriff's deputies who serve warrants. Phone the Sheriff's Office about one at 406-485-3405, day or night. Statewide, the DOC offender search labels prison escapees and supervision absconders as wanted. Filed court cases turn up on Montana's lower court portal and District Court portal. Handling a warrant safely starts with a lawyer's advice. Next, either call the judge's office that signed it to ask for a court date, or work out a surrender time with deputies. On felony warrants, the Clerk of District Court is another contact: 406-485-3410.

Each court keeps its own calendar. Both local courts work from one building in Circle:

• Justice of the Peace and City Judge, 1004 C Ave., Circle, MT 59215, 406-485-3548. Call Tuesday or Wednesday, 9 AM to noon.
• Clerk of District Court, same address, 406-485-3410, for felonies.

Typing the person's name into a state court portal might turn up the date as well. Our court page explains the whole path from charge to sentence.

The Billings Division of federal court takes cases from this part of Montana. It is at 2601 2nd Avenue North, Suite 1200, Billings, MT 59101, 406-247-7000.

1. A federal judge rules at the first hearing on jail versus home until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. The Marshals keep pretrial federal prisoners, frequently renting beds in county jails. Call 406-200-6004 to learn where.
3. Case papers can be pulled from PACER.
4. After sentencing, look for them on the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator by name or register number.

Immigration custody usually unfolds in four steps:

1. The jail receives an immigration detainer, Form I-247A.
2. With it, staff may keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released. Montana officers must go along with it, except when good evidence of citizenship or lawful status is shown (MCA 27-16-801).
3. The ICE check-in office for McCone and nearby counties is 2900 4th Avenue, Suite 205, Billings, MT 59101, 406-247-4083. ICE's Salt Lake City Field Office supervises Montana, 801-736-1200.
4. Look the person up on the ICE Online Detainee Locator using an A-number. A full name with birth country also works. No match? ICE points families to the field office.

Right after a felony sentence, people often stay in county custody for a while as the Department of Corrections sorts out placement. Even then, their name may already appear in the state's search.

• Enter a last name, or a DOC ID, on the Montana offender search. Results show the facility and supervision status.
• Mail and visiting details for every prison sit in our Montana state prisons guide.
• For supervision questions, try the state probation and parole office, 606 N Merrill, Glendive, MT 59330, 406-377-4086.

Teens are sent to juvenile detention instead of an adult jail, and their cases never show on the public court portals. After being detained, a youth must have a hearing before a judge inside 24 hours, not counting weekends or holidays (MCA 41-5-332). To learn where a teen is held and what comes next, phone the juvenile probation officer who serves this county and Richland: 406-433-3011.

The county is home to about 1,720 people (Census estimate for July 1, 2025). These agencies make arrests here:

• McCone County Sheriff's Office, 905 B Avenue, Circle, MT 59215, 406-485-3405. It is the only local law agency on the state's 911 list for the county, so it covers the town of Circle and the rural areas.
• Montana Highway Patrol, 18 Trooper Drive, Boulder, MT 59632, 24-hour dispatch 855-647-3777. The Glendive patrol office phone is 406-377-5238.
• Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, for an arrest on refuge land. Fort Peck Field Station, 270 Montana Hwy 117, Fort Peck, MT 59223, 406-526-3464.