McCook Detention Center Overview
McCook Detention Center is at 2309 North Highway 83 in McCook. The research identifies it as the former Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Work Ethic Camp converted under a DHS/ICE arrangement into a federal immigration detention center. Official Nebraska releases describe the facility as owned and operated by NDCS under contract, with ICE use after modifications and inspection.
This facility should not be described as the Red Willow County jail. It does not replace the Red Willow County Detention Center for local arrests, warrants, pretrial custody, or county jail bond questions. It also should not be treated as an ordinary NDCS prison search after the official 2025 releases described transfer of remaining Work Ethic Camp inmates and conversion to ICE detention.
The NDCS detention facility page is one official source for the contract context. The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services detention facility page documents the DHS/ICE contract materials and related redactions.
McCook Detention Center Capacity
The most specific sourced capacity figure comes from the governor's October 23, 2025 release, which said modifications would allow up to 300 detainees. The October 17 and October 23 releases also described the contract period through September 29, 2027 and state expectations of monthly payment under the DHS/ICE use. Those are ICE detention facts, not Red Willow County jail population facts.
Look Up McCook Detainees
The correct search channel for McCook Detention Center is the ICE Online Detainee Locator when the person is in civil immigration custody. The Red Willow County jail phone is for local county custody, and the NDCS incarceration record search is for sentenced Nebraska state prisoners. BOP is for sentenced federal prisoners. Those systems do not answer the same question.
- Confirm whether the person may be in ICE civil immigration detention rather than county jail custody.
- Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator with the required identifying information.
- Use the facility urgent message phone only for urgent detainee messages, not broad roster browsing.
- Check Red Willow County jail only if the person may still be in local arrest or pretrial custody.
- Check NDCS or BOP only if the person is in sentenced state or federal custody.
McCook Detention Center Contact
The official ICE facility page was identified in research, but browser capture returned a 403. The research did capture the urgent detainee message phone from the official ICE search result. Use ICE locator and facility channels for immigration custody questions rather than asking the Red Willow County jail to confirm a civil immigration detainee.
McCook Detention Center
2309 North Highway 83
McCook, NE 69001
(308) 345-8405
Urgent detainee message line from official ICE facility listing.
Visiting McCook Detention Center
The research did not capture a current public McCook Detention Center visitation schedule. Do not import Red Willow County jail video-visit hours to this ICE facility. Immigration detention visitation, attorney access, identification, property, and scheduling rules should be confirmed through official ICE or facility channels before travel.
| Item | Status | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Visit schedule | Not captured in accessible research | Confirm with ICE or the facility before travel. |
| Facility type | ICE civil immigration detention | Do not use county jail visit hours. |
| Attorney access | Not detailed in captured sources | Use official ICE/facility channels for current rules. |
| Identification | Not detailed in captured sources | Confirm required ID and check-in procedure before arrival. |
Mail Phone and Money
The Red Willow County jail deposit, mail, and phone rules do not automatically apply to McCook Detention Center. No current ICE facility handbook, mail rule, commissary vendor, or phone vendor details were captured in accessible official sources. That means detainee communication and property questions should be confirmed with the facility or ICE before sending mail, money, packages, or documents.
| Service | Current Research Status |
|---|---|
| Mail address | Use facility address only after confirming ICE mail rules and detainee identifiers. |
| Phone access | No current public vendor details captured; confirm with facility. |
| Money or commissary | No current public deposit vendor captured; do not use county JailATM rules. |
| Urgent messages | Official ICE result identified (308) 345-8405 for urgent detainee messages. |
ICE Custody at McCook
McCook Detention Center intake should be described as immigration detention custody, not street-arrest booking into the county jail. A person may arrive through ICE custody channels, transfer, or federal immigration process. The ICE locator is custody-location oriented and does not work like a county roster with local charges, county bond, or county court first appearance data.
Federal immigration detention can overlap with local criminal history, but the records are separate. A Red Willow County arrest may have local court records, while an ICE detainee location is searched through ICE. If a person has both local charges and immigration detention, each system may need to be checked separately.
About McCook Detention Center
The facility's recent history is central to accurate lookup guidance. Governor releases in October 2025 said Nebraska published a DHS/ICE contract to use the Work Ethic Camp in McCook as a federal detention center for ICE, with the remaining inmates transferred to other facilities. A later release said the facility passed final ICE inspection, security upgrades continued, and modifications would allow up to 300 detainees.
The facility has also drawn public attention because it changed from a minimum-security state Work Ethic Camp into ICE detention. For custody lookup, the important point is practical: Red Willow County jail, NDCS state prison, BOP federal prison, and ICE civil detention are different systems with different records.
The contract context also affects public-record expectations. The NDCS detention-facility page notes contract documents and redactions, including exemptions tied to Nebraska public-records law. That does not create a public county roster for McCook Detention Center. It means some state contract materials may be public while detainee custody and location questions still run through ICE systems. If a family member is trying to locate someone, the ICE Online Detainee Locator is the practical starting point.
McCook Detention Center should also be separated from the Red Willow County court path. A person in ICE detention may have federal immigration proceedings, local criminal history, state court records, or no current Red Willow County criminal case at all. County court records after a jail arrest answer filed-charge questions. ICE channels answer immigration custody questions. NDCS answers sentenced Nebraska state-prison questions. Using the wrong system can make it look as if no record exists when the record is simply held by another agency.
The facility's former name can add to the confusion. Some older references may still point to the Work Ethic Camp, while newer official releases and ICE materials use McCook Detention Center. A search should account for both history and current use, but the active lookup path should match present custody. Former NDCS program descriptions should not be used to infer current ICE visit, mail, commissary, or classification rules.
For Red Willow County residents, the practical split is simple. A recent local arrest starts with the Red Willow County Detention Center. A sentenced Nebraska prisoner starts with NDCS. A civil immigration detainee at the McCook facility starts with ICE. A sentenced federal prisoner starts with BOP. Each route has its own records, limits, and verification steps.
The urgent message phone should be used for urgent detainee communication issues, not as a substitute for broad public searches. For routine location work, use the ICE locator first and keep notes on the identifying information used.
Note: Confirm ICE custody, visitation, mail, and urgent-message rules through official ICE or facility channels before travel.