Seward County Sheriff, Nebraska and County Jail Information

Seward County Sheriff

Updated on: January 13, 2024

The Sheriff's department is located at 261 South 8th Street, Seward, NE. The department consists of several divisional units: Administration, Critical Response Team, Investigations, Jail, Records, and Road Staff. In 1985, the department had its first sheriff. Currently, the department is under Sheriff Michael Vance. The sheriff's administration division is tasked with the many administrative duties at the sheriff's office. Some of the administrative responsibilities include fingerprinting, background investigations, and the operation of the jail. The Critical Response Team is a 24-hour unit that responds to significant incidents and critical situations in Seward County, Kansas. They also provide emergency response services like evacuations and other related events with support from our local police departments. The Investigations Division investigates crimes against persons as well as property crimes. The Jail Division manages the jail facility and processes arrestees. They also provide care for inmates incarcerated at Seward County Jail. Records are in charge of processing, maintaining, storing, and distributing records for all criminal reports received from law enforcement agencies throughout Seward county and any other citizen requests that come through the office. The Seward County Sheriff's Office is the law enforcement agency responsible for patrolling outside the jail facility, providing safety and security at all county buildings, including courthouse employees. The Patrol Division oversees these activities and ensures public safety while performing emergency response services such as evacuations or other related events with support from our local police departments. Patrol deputies provide law enforcement services to all Seward County and contract law enforcement services for other entities in adjoining jurisdictions. They are assigned on a rotating basis throughout their shift to either uniformed patrol or investigative duties.

Jail

The Seward County Jail is located in Seward County, NE, and has approximately 58 inmates. The jail was opened in 1909, and its original mission was to provide for the detention of prisoners awaiting trial or convicted and sentenced to serve time within the county. Seward County Jail is an adult correctional facility that houses male, female, juvenile males, and females currently pending a court proceeding. The jail houses prisoners serving less than one year and those sentenced to serve over one year. The Seward County Jail staff is made up of a full-time sheriff’s deputy jailer or two part-time correctional officers; certified rehabilitation counselor; administrative secretary/jail clerk; superintendent who supervises all activities at the facility on an average day and provides for emergency response; accredited health services provider who provides medical care to inmates and jail staff 24 hours a day. All the professionals are highly trained on how to handle inmates.

Additional opportunities

This county Jail offers the opportunity for educational programming to those who are incarcerated: GED classes, Adult Basic Education coursework, Computer Literacy courses, and instruction in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint formats. The jail offers vocational training opportunities in welding, automobile repair, and heating/ventilation installation. Several activity programs take place at the jail. Inmates can access religious services for those who request them daily before meals or on Sundays by reverends from all denominations, Alcoholics Anonymous; Narcotics Anonymous meetings; a Bible Study group; and outside worship services. Inmates at Seward County jail are housed by safety and security classification with a minimum of one inmate per cell. Inmates can move around freely within the facility (except in restricted areas) and receive visits from family members, friends, clergy, or attorneys regularly if not housed in administrative segregation. Inmates at Seward county jail are under 24-hour surveillance and are not allowed to have contact with others. The jail is made up of four buildings. The men’s building, women’s building, the foodservice center, and the medical staff quarters. The jail has three levels, or units, for housing the inmate population and provides each with living quarters that share one common room area.

Criminal detention

The Steward County jail provides a short-term detention facility where the average stay is about 20 days. This facility also houses inmates awaiting a trial or sentencing and those sentenced to serve time on weekends. Inmates at Steward County jail have access to individual TVs in their cells and an hour of exercise daily before meals. This keeps their minds active and allows them to maintain their health while incarcerated.