It is "a simple utilitarian public building with Greek Revival influences that was designed by Reno architect Ben Leon.

[1][2] The Churchill County Courthouse, adjacent, also designed by Ben Leon, was listed on the NRHP ten years earlier.

Amongst the local stone constructions, the old jail remains as the finest perseverance in the Lahontan Valley.

Twenty inches thick walls have an exterior surface of quarried stone, an internal coating of rock rubble and inner layer of concrete.

The walls which separate the hallway and the office at the front are made of conventional woody frames covered with plaster.