Lookup Decatur County Jail Inmates

Decatur County Jail Overview

Decatur County Jail is a courthouse-based county jail operated by the Decatur County Sheriff's Office. It is not a separate detention campus. Official county sources place the jail and sheriff's office on the 4th floor of the Decatur County Courthouse in Oberlin. The sheriff page lists David Wachendorfer as sheriff, Ed Temmel as undersheriff, and Amber Carfield as jail administrator/deputy.

The jail holds pretrial detainees, local sentenced misdemeanants, people arrested by Decatur County agencies, and people held for court or transfer when accepted by the sheriff. Research did not locate a separate Oberlin city jail, regional jail, work-release annex, Kansas state prison, federal BOP prison, or ICE detention facility in Decatur County. That means local jail questions usually begin with the Decatur County Jail, while post-sentence state custody shifts to KDOC.

Decatur County Jail Capacity

The Kansas Sheriffs' Association directory lists Decatur County Jail as a 12-bed jail. It also states that the jail has 2 dedicated female beds, with 2 additional female beds depending on the male population count. No official current population count, average daily population, annual booking count, or detailed demographic table was located for this facility.

The small size matters for custody checks. If a booking creates a sex-separation, medical, security, population, or outside-hold issue, the sheriff may need to arrange transfer or outside housing. No standing contract jail was confirmed in official Decatur sources, so current status should be checked directly with the jail.

Look Up Decatur County Jail Custody

No official online Decatur County jail roster or inmate-profile page was located. The practical lookup path is direct contact with the sheriff's office and dispatch. The same 24-hour number is listed on the sheriff page and the Decatur County Dispatch page. Ask for current custody status first, then ask whether bond, court, transfer, or visitation information can be released.

1. Call 785-475-8100 and provide the person's full name and date of birth if known.
2. Ask whether the person is currently held at Decatur County Jail, released, transferred, or held for another agency.
3. Ask whether bond has been set and whether the Decatur County District Court has a filed case.
4. If a record is not released by phone, ask for the KORA custodian and written request method.
5. For sentenced state custody, search KASPER; for federal or immigration custody, use BOP or ICE channels.

The broader Decatur County jail inmate records page separates county jail lookup from court, KDOC, BOP, ICE, and VINELink channels.

Decatur County Jail Contact

The jail information line is also the dispatch contact. Use it for custody checks, visitation scheduling questions, bond status, and records-routing questions. Emergency calls should go to 911, not the jail information line.

Decatur County Jail Visitation

Decatur County publishes more detail for visitation than for mail, money, or commissary. The sheriff page states that visits can be scheduled by the inmate or visitor 24 hours before the visit. Visitors using the courthouse lobby kiosk should allow 5 minutes before the visit to log in. Each visit is limited to 15 minutes.

The official jail material reviewed did not publish visitor parking rules, dress code, child rules, ID requirements, or a full banned-property list. Confirm those details with the jail before travel.

Mail and Money at Decatur County Jail

Official Decatur sources did not publish a full inmate mail handbook, commissary vendor, phone vendor, tablet provider, deposit limit, or money-transfer fee table. Use the jail mailing address only after confirming the required inmate-name and ID format with staff. Sending items to a person who has already been released or transferred may delay or return mail.

For sentenced state prisoners, use the KDOC family and resident pages instead of Decatur jail rules. KDOC publishes separate material for resident communications, banking, canteen, classification, health, discipline, and grievances.

Decatur County Jail Booking

Decatur County did not publish a step-by-step booking policy. A conservative local process starts with arrest by the sheriff, Oberlin Police Department, Kansas Highway Patrol, or another agency. The person is transported to the courthouse jail, where staff complete identity checks, property inventory, booking entry, possible fingerprinting and booking photo, medical or security screening, and housing review.

After booking, the court path runs through the Decatur County District Court in the 17th Judicial District. The clerk's office is on the 3rd floor of the same courthouse and can be reached at 785-475-8107. Court records begin when a complaint, information, citation, or other charging document is filed. Booking charges are not always the same as prosecutor-filed charges.

Decatur County Jail Records

For records that are not released by phone or at the counter, use a written Kansas Open Records Act request. K.S.A. 45-218 requires action on a public-records request as soon as possible and not later than the end of the third business day after receipt. K.S.A. 45-221 lists exemptions that may affect criminal-investigation, privacy, sealed, expunged, medical, and security-sensitive records.

A useful request should identify the person, date of arrest or booking, arresting agency if known, and the specific items requested. Examples include a booking sheet, jail roster entry, bond information, custody status, or booking photo if releasable. If the requested item is a court filing, the sheriff may route the requester to the Decatur County District Court clerk.

Decatur County Jail Source

The Kansas Sheriffs' Association Decatur listing is the source for the jail's bed count, female-bed note, and sheriff contact summary.

That source supports treating Decatur County Jail as a small courthouse jail with direct phone verification rather than a large roster-driven detention center.