Keith County Jail Overview
Keith County Jail is the official jail serving Keith, Perkins, and Arthur Counties. It is operated locally by Keith County and functions as the practical jail service point for Arthur County detainees because Arthur County does not publish a separate county jail page, jail roster, visitation page, booking gallery, or commissary page. The facility is an adult jail for people age 18 and older. It houses pretrial detainees, local sentenced inmates, court holds, and agency holds that appear on the current roster.
The official jail page says the building was constructed in 1978 and complies with Nebraska Jail Standards and PREA. It lists staffing as one chief jailer or lieutenant, one sergeant, and up to five full- and part-time jailers. Because the jail serves three counties, a roster count is regional. It should not be described as the Arthur County jail population unless the roster entry or arresting agency shows a direct Arthur County connection.
The Keith County Jail home page is the source for the facility role, address, service counties, and capacity language.
That official page is also the starting point for linked custody tools and jail service pages used by Arthur County families, attorneys, and records requesters.
Keith County Jail Capacity
The capacity figures are small and should be stated with their source caveat. The official jail page describes 14 single cells plus two holding cells. The jail environment page describes 16 individual-cell occupation capacity, including two holding cells. Those two descriptions are consistent enough to show a small jail, but they use slightly different wording. The current roster count found in the research was a snapshot from the JDS roster, not an average daily population and not an Arthur-only count.
Use the snapshot carefully. The roster inspected during research showed four males, one female, and zero other for a total of five. That total covered the regional jail population listed at the time, not just Arthur County. The research did not find Arthur-only bookings, average daily population, race or age jail demographics, or a county-only pretrial and sentenced split.
Look Up Keith Jail Inmates
Current custody is searched through the Keith County Current Inmate Roster. The roster is a current listing, not a query form. It groups entries by sex and shows a run date and time. It has no observed public search box, so browser find is the practical way to locate a last name. Roster fields include JailId, Photo, Name, Charges, Current Disposition, Total Bail, SID number, Book Date, Attorney, Next Court Date, Arresting Agency, and Release Date.
- Open the current roster from the official Keith County Jail page or go directly to the JDS roster.
- Check the run date and time before relying on the listing.
- Use browser find for a last name, then compare JailId, SID number, booking date, charges, and arresting agency.
- Call Keith County Jail at (308) 284-4772 if the person is missing, newly booked, released, transferred, or hard to identify.
- Use the Nebraska DOC locator, BOP locator, or ICE ODLS only when the person is no longer in local jail custody.
The current roster image from the manifest shows the source Arthur County users should check for local custody.
The photo column and charge fields are useful, but the roster is not the final court record. Formal charges and case outcomes move into Nebraska court systems after filing.
Keith County Jail Contact
Use the jail contact for current custody, jail booking records, bond verification, phone and mail questions, and facility rules. For sheriff-created Arthur County arrest records, the Arthur County Sheriff's Office remains the local law-enforcement contact. For jail records generated by the housing facility, Keith County Jail is the better first call.
Keith County Jail
103 East 5th Street
Ogallala, NE 69153
(308) 284-4772
Fax: (308) 284-6171
Email: jail@keithcountyne.gov
Arthur County Sheriff
205 Fir Street, PO Box 188
Arthur, NE 69121
308-785-7911
Email: sheriff@arthurcountyne.gov
Keith County Jail Visits
Visitation is governed by Keith County Jail rules, even for Arthur County detainees. The official visitation page says public visits are first come, first served and do not require appointments. Visitors sign in with name, address, and phone number, and a photo ID is required. Visitors are screened for outstanding warrants and conditional release status such as bond, probation, or parole.
| Day or Visit Type | Hours | Rules |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | 8:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.; 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. | Public inmate visits, first come and first served. |
| Wednesday | 8:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.; 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. | Public inmate visits under the same rules. |
| Attorney visits | Any time | Attorney of record for current incarceration is welcome without restrictions. |
| Clergy visits | 8:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. | Prior notice, photo ID, and proof of practice required. |
| Exception visits | By approval | Written request to Visit Exception Request, C/O Keith County Jail. |
The jail limits each inmate to two total hours of visitation per week, and each visit may not exceed one hour. One visitor may be in the booth for an inmate at a time. Cell phones, purses, briefcases, backpacks, and unnecessary or potentially dangerous items are not allowed in the visiting booth.
The visitation source page is captured in the project images for schedule and visitor-rule reference.
Call the jail before traveling from Arthur County if custody status, discipline status, or visitor approval is uncertain.
Keith Jail Mail and Money
Mail, phone, commissary, and account rules come from Keith County Jail, not from Arthur County's courthouse pages. The jail accepts personal correspondence. Personal non-pornographic photos and stamps may be included with mail. Periodicals and products are not allowed through mail, and correspondence from another detention or correctional facility may be edited or denied.
| Service | Provider or Detail |
|---|---|
| Mail Address | Inmate Name, C/O Keith County Jail, 103 E 5th Street, Ogallala, NE 69153. |
| Allowed Mail Items | Personal letters, personal non-pornographic photos, and stamps. |
| Phone Calls | Collect calls, internally purchased calling cards, or prepaid calls through CIDNET. |
| General Call Hours | 6:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m., unless restricted for discipline. |
| Money and Commissary | Visitors may bring cash for an inmate account; food commissary is weekly, while hygiene items, calling cards, and radios are daily. |
| Indigent Stamps | Three free stamps weekly for indigent inmates. |
The jail's mail page gives the mailing rules and address format.
Mail rules are narrow enough that families should avoid sending products, subscriptions, or unapproved items without a direct check.
The jail's telephone page describes booking calls, bond-change calls, CIDNET prepaid calls, and emergency-message limits.
The jail says it is not a message service. Emergency messages are the stated exception, so routine messages should not be routed through jail staff.
Keith County Jail Bonding
Bond should be verified before anyone travels to Ogallala. The Keith County Jail bonding page says callers should contact the jail to verify every bond for the person. The jailer on duty can say whether the individual can be bonded out and what the amount is. Cash bonding must be done in person, in the arrested individual's name, and in the exact amount. Personal checks are not accepted.
Keith County also uses ALLPAID for credit-card bonding, with fees set by ALLPAID. The jail does not accept overpayment or underpayment for the bond amount. Felony cases, domestic-violence cases, and some holds may require court action or may not be immediately bondable. Nebraska release law, including Neb. Rev. Stat. 29-901, governs release options, appearance bonds, cash deposits, bail bonds, and possible pretrial supervision conditions.
The bonding source page from the manifest documents the cash and ALLPAID rules.
Bond amounts on the roster are not a substitute for a jail confirmation call, especially after court action changes the release terms.
Keith Jail Environment
The jail environment page gives unusually specific details about housing and daily life. Inmates are classified and housed based on a variety of criteria, with periodic safety and security reviews. Housing is divided into Orange, Blue, Yellow, and Green pods. Orange and Green have three individual cells each, while Blue and Yellow have four individual cells each. Each pod has a day room with a four-seat table, a book cart, and a communal shower.
The jail states that there are no televisions and no inmate internet access. There is no outside recreation. Inmates may use a small recreation room with limited exercise equipment Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Religious instruction and AA are provided by local volunteers. Medical and counseling needs are handled through contracts with local providers.
The environment source page also explains commissary timing, meals, newspapers, reading materials, and paper requests.
No GED, vocational, tablet, work-release, formal reentry, grievance form, or jail handbook was found in the official Keith or Arthur pages reviewed.
Keith Justice Center Planning
Arthur County users should know that Keith County has studied a new justice center because the current jail serves the region. The New Justice Center Project page discusses a possible future 72-bed jail, a 54-bed alternative, expansion planning, boarding charges, and transport costs. The page says a 2020 Jail Needs Assessment used data from the Nebraska Jail Standards Division, UNO Center for Public Affairs Research, Nebraska State Data Center, Nebraska Crime Commission, and county or district court caseload reports.
The planning page also notes summer peak demand tied to Lake McConaughy and states that rural jail population trends may lag larger urban trends. Those forecasts are Keith County-focused and are not Arthur-only statistics. Still, they matter for Arthur County because the official jail service arrangement routes Arthur detainees to Keith County Jail.
The justice-center source page is captured in the manifest for the future-capacity discussion.
Note: Confirm live custody, bond, and visit status with Keith County Jail before traveling, because the public roster is a current snapshot.