The search lists people held at the Billings jail right now. Here is how to work it:

1. Open the YCDF inmate search.
2. Solve the short math question it shows first.
3. Enter the name last name first, like "Doe, John," or pick a booking date. A full roster view is also offered.
4. Write down what the result shows so you can quote it on the phone.

Billings holds people from many places, so check the birth date or middle name before deciding a match is your loved one. To confirm, call booking at 406-256-6881.

Because the county runs no lockup. The Sheriff's page says the county's prisoners are housed at YCDF "through a contract." A 2022 bed count sent to the Legislature listed zero jail beds for the county. The county's capital plan says it another way: "Jail services are contracted with neighboring agencies."

Under the 2025 agreement with Yellowstone County, the county's own deputies drive prisoners to Billings and back, including trips for medical care.

A blank search usually has a simple cause:

• Still on the road. The drive to Billings takes time, and booking comes after.
• Out already. Bail was paid, or a judge let the person go.
• Held elsewhere. An arrest near a county line might mean a different jail, a state hold or a federal hold.
• A spelling problem. Try other spellings, a second given name or a maiden name.
• A minor. Under-18s go to youth detention instead.

Call booking at 406-256-6881 or the Sheriff's Office at 406-322-5326 with the full name and birth date.

It's possible when another agency made the arrest or the stop was near a border with the next county. Check these neighbors:

• Park County Detention Center, City/County Complex, 414 E. Callender St., Livingston, MT 59047, 406-222-4178. Staff answer around the clock but may ask you to leave a message.
• Sweet Grass County holding facility, Law and Justice Center, 200 West First Avenue, Big Timber, MT 59011, 406-932-5143. It is a 72-hour holding site.
• Carbon County Sheriff's Office, 102 Broadway Avenue North, Red Lodge, MT 59068, 406-446-1234. Carbon has also sent its adult prisoners to YCDF.
• Golden Valley County Sheriff's Office, 103 First Avenue East, Ryegate, MT 59074, 406-568-2321.

YCDF gives each person an Inmate Jacket Number. It is the ID that goes on letters and mailed money orders. Without it, mail can be delayed or sent back.

Ask for the number when you call booking at 406-256-6881. Keep it in your phone with the full legal name and birth date.

Yes. Montana law makes several jail records public, including booking photos, bail records, initial arrest records and daily jail rosters (MCA 44-5-103). Ask for a photo through the agency that made the arrest. For a county arrest, that is the Sheriff's Office at 406-322-5326.

• Most federal agencies keep booking photos private. One exception: the U.S. Marshals Service sometimes releases a photo, such as when chasing a fugitive.
• For an ICE photo, send a records request through the ICE FOIA page.

For a stay at YCDF, the most reliable method is to check the inmate search every day and to call booking at 406-256-6881.

• VINE is a free alert service, and you choose phone, text or email. Its Montana coverage is felony offenders under the Montana Department of Corrections, like state prisoners and parolees. Register at VINELink or 800-456-3076; nobody is signed up automatically.
• Victims get a call. The jail must promptly notify the alleged victim once bail is posted in these cases: stalking, a broken protection order, strangling or partner assault (MCA 46-9-108).

Once a complaint is filed, the charges are in the court record. Lower court cases sit on the limited jurisdiction portal, and felony cases sit on the District Court portal. To read any Montana law cited in a charge, use the free Montana Code Annotated.

The County Attorney picks the charges that get filed. Its office is at 544 North Diamond Street, Columbus, MT 59019, 406-322-4333.

Release is decided at the first hearing, usually before the Justice Court on the courthouse's 4th floor, 400 East 3rd Avenue North, Columbus, MT 59019, 406-322-8040. By YCDF's rule, bonds get paid at the court where the offense happened while it is open. After hours, the Detention Facility takes them.

• A state bond list gives suggested amounts for many misdemeanors.
• A felony has no amount on that list, which leaves the figure to the judge.
• Bail for a partner or family assault charge waits until a judge reviews it.
• For bond questions, call YCDF booking at 406-256-6881.

Read our bail page for amounts, payment and bail agents.

The first hearing is where the judge brings up counsel. A person short on money may apply for a state public defender. Felonies, youth cases and misdemeanors that might mean jail all qualify.

• Billings office: 207 N. Broadway, Suite 201, Billings, MT 59101, 406-256-6861
• Apply online at advopd.mt.gov

A private defense lawyer is another choice for families who can pay.

Not in person. YCDF has stopped in-person visits, and its FAQ says they are not expected back soon. Instead, every inmate gets two free remote visits each week. These rules apply while the person is held at YCDF:

• Visits are booked online through the jail's video visit provider.
• Join on your phone, on a computer that has a camera, or at the kiosk in the YCDF lobby.
• Visits open up only after the person moves into a housing unit.
• Inmates schedule or accept visits during their time out of the cell.
• The jail can cancel a visit for operations or an emergency.
• A minister needs the Facility Chaplain's OK in advance. The inmate, not the family, requests that visit.

Our visiting guide has more help for video visits.

The trust account pays for commissary. These options apply while the person is at YCDF:

• Online through the jail's commissary provider. Fees apply.
• At the lobby kiosk in the Detention Facility. Fees apply.
• By mail with a money order only, made out to the inmate's full name. Write the Inmate Jacket Number and "ATTENTION MAIL OFFICER" on it, and send it to 3165 King Avenue East, Billings, MT 59101. Mail without that line is sent back.

Never send cash or a personal check. Care packages are ordered online through the same provider. See our money guide and our commissary guide.

Yes. Tablets and kiosks inside YCDF handle phone calls, video visits and messages. A communications account pays for all of it, and it is separate from the trust account.

• Family and friends set up the communications account online with the jail's phone provider, or by calling 800-943-2189.
• Trust money can be shifted into the communications account for a fee. It can't be shifted back.
• Staff relay an outside message only in a proven emergency, like a death in the family or an emergency operation.
• Right after booking, people can call family on booking phones.

Jail calls are not the place to discuss the case; leave that for the lawyer. Our phone guide covers calls. Our messaging guide covers texts and email.

Personal mail for anyone at YCDF goes to a scanning service in Texas. A vendor scans each letter and delivers it to the inmate electronically. The paper is then destroyed, not returned. Address it in this order, one item per line:

• Line 1: Inmate Name
• Line 2: Inmate Jacket Number
• Line 3: Yellowstone Co. Detention Facility
• Line 4: P.O. Box 591
• Line 5: Longview, Texas 75606

Keep each letter to 5 pages or fewer, on one side only. Paper can't be larger than letter size, 8.5 by 11 inches, and only one photo fits in each envelope. Books, magazines, packages, legal mail and medical mail can't go to the Texas address. YCDF has separate book rules.

Legal mail from a lawyer or a court goes straight to 3165 King Avenue East, Billings, MT 59101. It must be marked "LEGAL MAIL," be addressed to the inmate, and show a return address with the sender's name and phone. More mailing tips are in our mail guide.

At YCDF, released property is handed out at the Booking Window, and the wait can be long on busy days. People are released from the main lobby of the Detention Facility.

The home county drives its own prisoners to and from Billings, so the release spot for them may differ. Call booking at 406-256-6881 before you drive over. Ask where the person will be let out, whether you can pick up property for them, and what ID to bring.

YCDF's medical room has its own line, 406-256-6997. Call it if your loved one has a serious health condition or needs a medicine. Have the medicine name, the dosage and the doctor's contact ready. YCDF does not accept medicines sent in by family.

Under the 2025 contract, YCDF covers basic routine care, and the home county pays for other medical care of its prisoners. In an emergency, call 911 right away. Tell the person who answers plainly if you think it is a mental health crisis.

Legal papers for an inmate at YCDF, such as a summons or a civil order, are served through the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office Civil Division at 406-256-2959.

A lawyer's letters count as legal mail and go to the King Avenue address, not the Texas address. For a question about the local court case, call the court that has it. The Justice Court number is 406-322-8040, and the District Court clerk is at 406-322-8030.

The Sheriff's Office answers county warrant questions at 406-322-5326. For a town case, Columbus City Court issues a warrant after a missed date, and its clerk takes calls at 406-322-5313, ext. 200. People wanted by state corrections as escapees or absconders show up on the Montana offender search. Pending cases can be checked online through the state's lower court portal or its District Court portal. If a warrant turns up, get legal advice first. A lawyer can help you ask the court for a new date or plan a surrender with the Sheriff's Office.

Ask the court that has the case. Call with the full name and birth date:

• Justice Court, 4th floor, 400 East 3rd Avenue North, Columbus, MT 59019, 406-322-8040. New cases are heard Mondays and Wednesdays at 9 a.m.
• Clerk of District Court, same building, 406-322-8030, for felonies.
• Columbus City Court, 408 East 1st Avenue North, Columbus, MT 59019, 406-322-5313, ext. 200, for town cases.

Dates also appear on the state's free court portals. For each stage of a case, see our court guide.

Federal charges here are tried in Billings, at the courthouse named for James F. Battin. Its clerk: 2601 2nd Avenue North, Suite 1200, Billings, MT 59101, 406-247-7000.

1. The first federal court date includes a release or detention ruling (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Pretrial, phone the Marshals office in Billings, 406-200-6004, to learn where the person is being kept.
3. Read the filings on PACER.
4. After sentencing, check the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

The steps usually go like this:

1. Step one is a detainer: the jail receives ICE's Form I-247A.
2. Next, the jail may keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released. State law says officers must honor it, except when the person has believable papers showing citizenship or legal status (MCA 27-16-801).
3. Agents then collect the person. Montana's ICE cases are managed from Utah: 2975 Decker Lake Drive, Suite 100, West Valley City, UT 84119, 801-736-1200.
4. Closer to home, ICE's Billings check-in office lists this county among its areas: 2900 4th Avenue, Suite 205, Billings, MT 59101, 406-247-4083.
5. To find them, use the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Enter an A-number, or else the exact name plus the country of birth.

After a state felony sentence, it is common to wait at YCDF while the Department of Corrections does its assessment. The person may already appear in the state's records then.

• Location and custody status for state prisoners: Montana offender search (name or DOC ID).
• For visiting hours and mail rules at a given prison, open our Montana state prisons guide.
• Call 406-846-1404 for the Board of Pardons and Parole, which handles parole.

Teens don't share the adult jail. When a teen must be locked up, Billings is again the destination, at the Ted Lechner Youth Services Center: 410 South 26th Street, Billings, MT 59101, 406-256-6825. Its regional plan lists this county among those it serves.

Youth Court hears these cases, and the public portals exclude minors' cases. For a detained youth, the probable cause hearing must come fast: inside 24 hours, not counting weekends and holidays (MCA 41-5-332). Parents can call Juvenile Probation, on the courthouse's first floor, at 406-322-8045.

Census estimates show 9,445 residents as of July 1, 2025. Three main agencies work in the county:

• Stillwater County Sheriff's Office, 400 East 3rd Avenue North, Columbus, MT 59019, 406-322-5326. It is the county's law enforcement agency, and its number is also listed for dispatch. The only incorporated town is the county seat, so for places like Absarokee, Park City, Reed Point, Nye, Fishtail, Molt and Rapelje, call the Sheriff's Office.
• Columbus Police Department, first floor of City Hall, 408 E 1st Ave N, Columbus, MT 59019. Five sworn officers and a K9 unit cover the town of about 1,964 people. Its page lists the shared dispatch line above, and 911 for emergencies.
• Montana Highway Patrol, 18 Trooper Drive, Boulder, MT 59632, 24-hour dispatch 855-647-3777.