Billings County Inmate Locator — Finding Someone in Custody

The Billings County Sheriff’s Office, located at 495 4th Street in Medora, handles custody for the county. No standalone online inmate roster is confirmed for Billings County; the fastest way to check whether someone is currently held is to call the Sheriff directly at (701) 623-4323. The Sheriff’s official records page at Billings County Sheriff lists department contacts and quick links for records inquiries.

Looking for someone booked tonight? See Billings County section 3 — If someone was just booked tonight for phone-first contact info.

Searching the Billings County jail roster

Billings County does not publish a self-service online inmate roster. The Billings County Sheriff’s Office at 495 4th Street, Medora, is the authoritative source for current custody status. Follow these steps:

1. Call the Sheriff’s Office at (701) 623-4323.
2. State that you are requesting a custody check and provide the person’s full legal name.
3. Give the date of birth if you have it — Billings County is a small-population county, but common surnames can still produce multiple results.
4. Ask the deputy to confirm spelling before they search; a first-name variant (e.g., “Mike” vs. “Michael”) can affect results.

For court-related records tied to a Billings County case, the North Dakota Court System — Billings County page links to the statewide case search portal. The Billings County Courthouse can be reached at (701) 623-4492; courthouse hours run Monday–Thursday 8:00 AM–4:00 PM and Friday 8:00 AM–12:00 PM.

What the roster does (and doesn’t) show

The Billings County Sheriff’s Office updates custody records as bookings and releases occur, but there is no publicly posted refresh schedule for a web roster — because no public web roster exists. Phone inquiries reflect the most current data the office has on hand at the moment you call.

Even a live phone check has limits. Juvenile detainees are not disclosed to the public. Individuals held on federal charges may be transferred to a federal facility and will not appear in county records. People booked and released on a citation or personal recognizance bond may clear the system quickly. Court case data — charges filed, hearing dates, case numbers — lives in the statewide court portal rather than with the Sheriff. The Sheriff confirms physical custody; the court portal confirms case status.

If you’re reading this because someone was just booked tonight, the section below is for you.

If someone was just booked tonight

Call the (701) 623-4323 — that’s the Billings County Sheriff’s Office, and the line is staffed around the clock for custody questions. It’s a long night, and a two-minute call is the fastest way to confirm your person is actually in custody before you do anything else.

The deputy who answers can tell you whether the person is booked and where they are being held. Billings County is a small county, and deputies can typically pull a name quickly. That’s useful — but keep in mind they can confirm custody, not bond amount. Bond is set at first appearance, which typically happens within 24–72 hours of booking. Calling tonight gets you confirmation and timing; it won’t get you a dollar figure yet.

Visitation is not available the night of booking. That part is the hard part. Hours for visits begin the following day at minimum — call the Sheriff in the morning to ask about the current schedule and any approval steps required before you can visit. If the person is eventually transferred to a state facility, the North Dakota DOCR family and friends page covers visitation rules and the electronic visitor application process.

Your next-morning checklist: call the Billings County Courthouse at (701) 623-4492 to ask about the first-appearance date and any filed charges. Courthouse hours are Monday–Thursday 8:00 AM–4:00 PM, Friday 8:00 AM–12:00 PM. If you need to consult an attorney, do that before the first appearance. That hearing is when bond conditions get set, and having counsel present matters.

If someone isn’t on the Billings County roster

Why might a name not come up when you call the Sheriff’s Office?

Booking paperwork takes time to process after an arrest. A person booked within the last hour or two may not yet be in the system when you call. That’s the most common explanation for a “not found” result on a recent arrest.

• Call to confirm absence: Ask the deputy explicitly whether the person was booked and released, or was never booked at all — those are different situations with different next steps.
• State DOC transfer: If the person is serving a sentence rather than awaiting trial, they may be held at a state facility. Search the North Dakota DOCR Resident Lookup at https://www.docr.nd.gov/resident-lookup by name.
• Neighboring county: An arrest near a county line may result in booking in an adjacent county — Golden Valley, Slope, or Stark. Call those sheriffs directly.
• Federal custody: Federal charges route to federal detention facilities, which do not appear in county records.
• Already released: Bond may have been posted quickly, or the person may have been released on their own recognizance before you called.
• VINELink notification: Register at VINELink (https://www.vinelink.com) to receive automated alerts if custody status changes.

Nationwide inmate lookup

The Billings County Sheriff’s phone covers local custody. It won’t show transfers to other states, federal facilities, or bookings in counties outside North Dakota. The search tool below covers multi-jurisdictional gaps the local roster cannot fill. Results vary by jurisdiction and are not guaranteed to be complete.

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