Reviewed and updated October 11, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and October 11, 2026.
Dawes County, Nebraska, has about 8,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dawes County is held at the county jail, run by the Dawes County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Dawes County public records, Dawes County arrest records, Dawes County warrants, Dawes County criminal records, Dawes County court records, Nebraska arrest records and Nebraska inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Dawes County
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dawes County is held at the county jail, run by the Dawes County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Dawes County Sheriff's Office at dawescounty.ne.gov/what-we-do/county-offices/sheriffs-office.html (page title: Sheriff's Office : County Offices : What We Do : Dawes County), phone (308) 432-3025, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 11, 2026.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster, so a search for a particular person goes through the office at (308) 432-3025.
The Dawes County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 15 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 20 beds, and it ran at 75 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Dawes County has about 8,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 19 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Dawes County Jail
The Dawes County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Chadron make the arrests that end in a booking in Dawes County.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Dawes County: the State Patrol in Dawes County (state police).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Chadron's 113 for 2025 and the Dawes County Sheriff's Office's 19 for 2025.
Together, the two agencies in Dawes County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 132 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Dawes County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Dawes County serves the sentence in a facility of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, whose inmate locator is at dcs-inmatesearch.ne.gov/Corrections/COR_input.jsp.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Dawes County?
Ask the Dawes County Sheriff's Office at (308) 432-3025; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at dawescounty.ne.gov.
How many people are in the Dawes County jail?
About 15 on an average day in 2019, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 20 beds.
What is the phone number for the Dawes County jail?
(308) 432-3025, the number on the page of the Dawes County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Dawes County go?
To a facility of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services; its inmate locator is at dcs-inmatesearch.ne.gov.
Is this the official Dawes County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.