The list is short. On one late-October day it held 22 names. Try these steps:

1. Open the Inmate Roster.
2. Names are listed last name first. Press Ctrl+F (Find on a phone) and enter the surname you need.
3. The middle column holds the charges, the bond and the court.
4. Read the last column for the holding agency and the arrest date.
5. Write down the exact spelling and the arrest date. Both help when you call staff.

Every entry carries a reminder that the people listed are innocent until proven guilty.

Several things can explain a missing name:

• Timing. The list updates once a night, so an arrest from this afternoon may not appear yet.
• Release. The person may have posted bond or been let go by a judge.
• A move. Officers drive inmates to other county jails and to mental health facilities around Montana. The jail won't discuss transports to other counties or states.
• Spelling. Search again under a nickname, a middle name or a name used before marriage.
• Age. Someone under 18 is handled through Youth Court Services, not the adult list.

When in doubt, call the Detention Center at 406-222-4178 and give the person's legal name and birthday. If no one picks up, leave a message, since officers may be with inmates.

The last column shows who is holding the person:

• SO means the Sheriff's Office.
• PD means the city police department.
• MHP means the Montana Highway Patrol.
• DOC means the Montana Department of Corrections.

In the charge column, the court with the case appears in parentheses, such as Justice Court, City Court or District Court. A few entries name a court from another county or state, which usually means a hold for that court. Notes like GPS, SCRAM (an alcohol monitor) or drug patch are release conditions. "No Bond" means there is no bail amount to pay on that charge right now, so ask the jail what it means for your loved one.

Adults arrested here normally stay in the jail on Callender Street. If the arrest happened close to a neighboring county, also check these jails:

• Gallatin County Detention Center, 605 S. 16th Ave, Bozeman, MT 59715, 406-582-2130. Some Yellowstone prisoners are held here under contract.
• Sweet Grass County Sheriff's Office, 200 West First Avenue, Big Timber, MT 59011, 406-932-5143. It keeps people only for short holds.
• Yellowstone County Detention Facility in Billings, booking line 406-256-6881, open 24 hours. Stillwater and Carbon counties send their prisoners there.

Jail staff won't talk about transports to other counties or states. If a name drops off the local roster, call these jails directly.

The roster is a text list, so the photo has to be requested. Under MCA 44-5-103, Montana counts a booking photo as public. Bail records and daily jail lists fall in that same open group.

• Ask the Sheriff's Office business line, 406-222-4172, how to request a booking photo.
• The county uses a public information request form for records from its offices.
• For a person held by ICE, photos come only through the ICE records request page.
• The U.S. Marshals Service sometimes publishes a federal mugshot to help catch a fugitive, but most federal booking photos stay private.

For a stay in the county jail, your best tools are the nightly roster update and a phone call to staff at 406-222-4178.

• VINE is a free state alert line that sends calls, texts or emails. It is meant for adult felons the state supervises, not everyone in the county jail. Sign up on VINELink or call 800-456-3076. You must register yourself.
• Some crime victims are alerted by law. In stalking cases, protection order cases and cases of assaulting or strangling a partner, the jail must tell the alleged victim once the accused is out on bail (MCA 46-9-108).

The roster splits each person's charges into felonies and misdemeanors. To look up the law behind a charge, search the free Montana Code Annotated. For example, theft is MCA 45-6-301.

The full complaint becomes part of the court file after filing. For felonies, open the District Court portal. Justice Court and City Court files are on the limited jurisdiction portal. The County Attorney's Office decides the final charges. Reach it at 414 E. Callender St., Livingston, MT 59047, 406-222-4150.

The roster shows the bond amount for each charge, or the words "No Bond." The Detention Center accepts exact cash, a certified check or a bondsman. Justice Court bonds can be cash, money orders, cashier's checks or a bondsman's bond. Personal checks won't work.

• City Court bonds go through city dispatch, 406-222-2050.
• Cash bonds over $10,000 are posted with the court during business hours.
• Nights and weekends, jail staff can still process Justice Court bonds, District Court bonds and bonds set by out-of-county courts.

Call 406-222-4178 before you go. Our bail page explains amounts, bondsmen and refunds.

No inmate has to face court alone. The judge goes over appointed counsel at the person's first court date, including how to get a lawyer at no cost. Montana's Office of State Public Defender represents people in youth cases, felony cases and misdemeanor cases that could mean time in jail.

• Justice Court sends a referral, and the person then applies to the Bozeman public defender office, 77 Discovery Drive, Bozeman, MT 59718, 406-582-2450.
• Family members can help fill out the online application. Gather the latest pay stubs and bank statements before starting.
• A judge decides who qualifies, and a fee may be charged later.

A private lawyer is another option. Ask the jail at 406-222-4178 how attorney visits are arranged.

Every visit is by video at the jail. There is no face-to-face contact. The schedule is fixed, with no exceptions:

• Thursdays, 6:00 to 10:00 p.m.
• Sundays, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Each inmate may have two visits a day, up to 15 minutes each, and no more than 3 visitors may sit in the room at once. Visits go first come, first served, with no reservations. Check-in opens 10 minutes before visiting begins, and not earlier.

• Visits start only after the inmate's first court appearance. They are paused while an inmate is on disciplinary status.
• Give your name, address and date of birth, and show a photo ID.
• Anyone under 18 needs a parent or legal guardian along.
• Leave phones, purses, bags and containers in your car. A phone seen during a visit ends it.
• Dress appropriately, arrive sober and keep language clean. Officers may watch.

More visiting advice is on our visitation page.

There are two ways to add funds:

1. Hallway kiosk. A deposit kiosk sits in the Law Enforcement hallway of the City/County Complex.
2. Online. Use the deposit link on the Sheriff's Detention Center page. Pick the facility, then search for the inmate. For help with the site, call 800-284-1990.

Have the inmate's full name spelled as it is on the roster. Any money left at release comes back to the person as a check or a debit card. Our money page and commissary page explain what deposits can pay for. Never mail cash.

Inmates can make outgoing calls, but they can't take incoming ones. Jail staff also can't pass along messages, so the call has to come from your loved one.

To learn how calls are billed, or whether messaging or tablets are offered, call 406-222-4178. Treat every call as if someone is listening, and keep case details for the lawyer. Read more on our jail phone page, and see our email and messaging page for electronic options.

Address letters with the inmate's full name only, in this format: (Inmate Full Name), C/O Park County Detention Center, 414 E. Callender, Livingston, MT 59047. The jail is strict about what gets through:

• Letters, cards and photographs are allowed.
• Refused items include Polaroids, newspaper clippings, drawings, stickers and glitter.
• Musical cards, blank paper, blank cards and extra envelopes are refused too.
• Anything written in crayon or marker is turned away.
• The envelope must show your first and last name and a return address, or it goes back.
• Packages are not accepted, and letters can't be dropped off in person. They must come by mail.

Staff search every item. See our mail page for more.

Only a few things are accepted for inmates:

• Medication in its prescription bottle, with a valid prescription attached
• Medical equipment
• Eyeglasses and contact lenses

Nothing else is taken, so leave clothes, books and snacks at home. Before you bring medication, call 406-222-4178 to let staff know it is coming.

Items a person had at booking are stored until release. Leftover account money goes back to them then too. To pick up things for someone still inside, phone the jail first at 406-222-4178.

Ask if a signed note from the inmate is needed and when you can come by. Bring photo ID, and use the rear Law Enforcement door at 414 E. Callender St., Livingston, MT 59047.

Detention Officers take inmates to medical and dental appointments and, when needed, to mental health facilities anywhere in the state. City police say people who are hurt or sick when arrested are treated by Livingston Fire and Ambulance.

If your loved one needs medicine, call the jail at 406-222-4178. Tell staff what the medicine is, how much is taken and who prescribed it. Medicine may be dropped off only in a prescription bottle with a valid prescription. In an emergency, call 911, and mention any risk of self-harm or a mental health crisis right away.

Out in the county, deputies carry out warrants. Inside city limits, city officers do. To ask, call the Sheriff's Office at 406-222-4172 or the 911 center's main line, 406-222-2050, which dispatches for both. Filed cases can be found on the state's free court sites for felonies and for misdemeanors. Anyone the state is seeking after an escape, or after skipping out on supervision, is flagged on the Montana offender search. Speak with a lawyer before turning yourself in. Surrender takes place at the jail's rear entrance, 414 E. Callender St., Livingston, MT 59047. The court behind the warrant may also set a new date.

Start with the court named in parentheses on the roster, then call that office:

• Justice Court, 414 East Callender St., Livingston, MT 59047, 406-222-4170. Open court is Tuesday and Thursday at 9:00 a.m., and in-custody cases are seen by video.
• Clerk of District Court, 414 E. Callender Street, Room 106, Livingston, MT 59047, 406-222-4125.
• City Court, 406-823-6013. Ask staff where to go, since city pages show two addresses.

The free state court portals list upcoming hearings as well. For what happens at each hearing, read our court page.

Then the case is federal. For most of the county, that means federal court in Billings: James F. Battin Federal Courthouse, 2601 2nd Avenue North, Suite 1200, Billings, MT 59101, 406-247-7000.

• Arrests inside Yellowstone go to the federal District of Wyoming, which covers the Montana part of the park too. Its judge for those cases works from Mammoth's Yellowstone Justice Center, 105 Albright Avenue, 2nd Floor, Mammoth, WY 82190, 307-227-7020.
• Where a federal defendant waits for trial is up to the U.S. Marshals Service. Call the Billings office, 406-200-6004, to find out.
• PACER holds the case records, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator lists people after sentencing.

Yes, if ICE has placed a detainer. This is the usual sequence:

1. ICE sends a detainer request on Form I-247A.
2. That allows a hold of up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released. State law makes officers honor it, though not for someone with credible papers proving citizenship or lawful status (MCA 27-16-801).
3. The person is then handed over to ICE. Montana falls under its Salt Lake City Field Office, 2975 Decker Lake Drive, Suite 100, West Valley City, UT 84119, 801-736-1200.
4. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator. You will need an A-number, or the person's exact name and birth country. ICE says to phone the field office when the search comes back empty.

A person headed for state custody often stays in the Callender Street jail for a while first. The Department of Corrections must assess them before choosing a placement. The roster marks those inmates as DOC holds.

• Look up the current facility on the Montana offender search. A state ID number works, or just a name.
• Each prison's visiting and mail rules: see our Montana state prisons guide.
• The probation office in the City/County Complex answers at 406-222-4165.

The adult jail is mostly off limits to anyone under 18. A rural county may hold a youth there briefly before a hearing. The limit is 24 hours, on a clock that freezes over weekends and holidays. The youth must have no contact of any kind with adult prisoners (MCA 41-5-349). A detained youth must see a judge within 24 hours on the same count (MCA 41-5-332).

Youth cases are kept off the public portals. To learn where a child is held and when court is, call Youth Court Services at 406-222-4162, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Roughly 18,214 people call the county home (Census Bureau, July 1, 2025 estimate). The roster's agency column points to one of these:

• Sheriff's Office, City/County Complex, 414 E. Callender St., Livingston, MT 59047, business line 406-222-4172. Its 18 full-time officers patrol about 2,802 square miles, from Wilsall south to Cooke City. The town of Clyde Park contracts with the Sheriff for its police work.
• Livingston Police Department, 414 E. Callender Street, Livingston, MT 59047, through the shared 911 dispatch center, 406-222-2050.
• Montana Highway Patrol, 18 Trooper Drive, Boulder, MT 59632, 24-hour dispatch 855-647-3777.
• State game wardens with Montana's fish and wildlife agency also bring people to this jail.
• Montana Department of Corrections, which has some of its own inmates at the jail, 5 S Last Chance Gulch Street, Helena, MT 59620, 406-444-3930.
• Yellowstone rangers enforce federal law in the park. Those cases go to federal court in Wyoming.