The Perkins County Jail sits at:
200 Lincoln Avenue
Grant City, NE 69140
and handles booking for adults charged with felonies and misdemeanors in Perkins County.
People arrested by sheriff’s deputies come here, and so do arrests by police in cities and villages across the county that lack their own holding facility. During intake, each person is fingerprinted and photographed, their belongings are cataloged, warrant records are searched and a health screening is completed before they are assigned a bed.
The Nebraska State Patrol and federal agencies, among them the U.S. Marshals and ICE, can also book prisoners into this jail.
Nebraska has no state law limiting cooperation with immigration authorities. The Nebraska State Patrol and the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services both have 287(g) agreements with ICE, and a number of county sheriff’s offices have signed on as well. A person with an ICE detainer may be turned over to federal officers rather than released once their local case is resolved.
The online list of recent arrests is taken from the jail’s official booking list (opens in a new tab) or an official statewide jail list. Depending on the agency, an entry may show a mugshot, the charges filed and which department made the arrest. If a record looks incomplete, the Perkins County Jail can be reached at 308-352-4564.
Intake at the Perkins County Jail, from arrival until the person is housed or cleared for release, can run from a couple of hours to most of a day. It depends largely on how many people are already in line ahead of them.
Nebraska is one of the few states without a commercial bail bond industry, so there are no bail bondsmen to call. Instead, a judge sets the bond, and in most cases the person or their family deposits 10% of that amount with the court; most of the deposit is refunded if every court date is kept. Judges may also release people on their own recognizance. See our Bail page for how to post a bond.
Call the jail at 308-352-4564 and ask whether the person is in custody.
Depending on the system, you may be able to search by name through an automated menu, or a jail employee may take the call. Expect to be asked for a date of birth so staff can be sure they are looking at the right record.
New arrests are not always visible right away; records can lag behind by several hours.
Prefer not to call? The Perkins County Jail Booking Roster lists recent bookings online.
After the arrest and a reading of Miranda rights, the officer drives the person to the county jail, or in some cases a city police station, where booking begins.
The process has several parts. Most defense attorneys recommend saying as little as possible about the alleged offense, since statements made in booking, in holding cells or on jail phones can be recorded and used in court.
The person is photographed and fingerprinted, then answers questions about their identity, health and mental state. Officers also run checks for warrants in Perkins County, across Nebraska and nationally.
For a suspected DUI, a blood draw requires either consent or a search warrant. Refusing a lawful breath test in Nebraska is a separate offense and can cost the driver their license.
Before entering the jail, people are searched for weapons and contraband. Expect a pat-down and possibly a metal detector or body scanner; an unclothed search may also be done under jail policy.
Questions cover health conditions, medications, allergies, alcohol and drug use, tattoos and scars, gang membership and whether the person is thinking about hurting themselves. Jail staff use this to choose a safe housing assignment and flag medical or mental health needs.
All personal items are inventoried and locked up. They go back to the owner at release, or the owner can sign them over so a relative or friend can collect them sooner.
That includes clothing, money, wallets and purses, cell phones, keys, jewelry, piercings and watches. Eyeglasses can be held if staff consider them a hazard, and laces are pulled from any shoes the person is allowed to wear.
The person can make a phone call to let someone know about the arrest and begin arranging the bond or bail deposit.
Those who stay in custody until they see a judge are issued jail clothing and footwear, a blanket and sheets, a towel, soap and dental supplies.
A shower is commonly required before housing, and some facilities also use a treatment to guard against lice and scabies.
Booking may be done in an hour, or it may stretch past 24 hours. The size of the backlog, the number of officers on shift and how cooperative the person is all play a part.
People who arrive drunk, high or aggressive are often held in a separate cell until they settle down, which can slow things considerably.