The Jefferson County Inmate Population
The Jefferson County inmate population is split between local jail custody and state prison custody. The local count measures people held at the Jefferson County Justice Center, the sheriff-run jail in Mt. Vernon. The state count measures sentenced adult men held at Big Muddy River Correctional Center in Ina. Both sit inside Jefferson County, but they are run by different agencies and searched in different systems. A person in the county jail is usually pretrial or serving a short term. A person at Big Muddy has already been sentenced to the Illinois Department of Corrections.
The size of the jail count rises and falls with arrests, court release decisions, sentencing, and transfers to state prison. It also moves with contract housing. The 2024 state jail inspection notes that the Jefferson County jail held detainees for the U.S. Marshals Service and for Vanderburgh County, Indiana, on top of its own arrests. That means a person counted in the local inmate population may not have a Jefferson County case at all. The numbers below come from the state jail inspection, an Illinois corrections research dataset, and the state prison agency, each labeled with its source and year.
Jefferson County Inmate Population Statistics
The clearest official snapshot of the local jail comes from the Illinois Department of Corrections jail inspection. On the inspection date of May 22, 2024, the Jefferson County Justice Center held 158 detainees against 252 rated beds. The figures below pair that inspection with longer-run estimates from the Vera Institute and with the state prison count for Big Muddy. Each row is labeled with its source so the numbers are not blended together.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Rated jail capacity | 252 beds (208 male, 44 female) | IDOC jail inspection, 2024 |
| Inspection-day jail population | 158 (148 male, 10 female) | IDOC jail inspection, May 22, 2024 |
| Jail population estimate | About 170 | Vera Incarceration Trends, 2023 |
| Annual jail bookings estimate | About 446 | Vera Incarceration Trends, 2023 |
| County resident population | 36,147 | U.S. Census QuickFacts, 2025 |
| Big Muddy state prison population | 1,610 | IDOC quarterly report, April 2026 |
The inspection count and the Vera estimate are not the same measure, so they should not be averaged. The 158 figure is a single-day count taken during a state inspection. The 170 figure is a 2023 modeled estimate from a national research dataset. Both point to a jail that runs well under its rated capacity. The Big Muddy figure is a state prison count and is far larger because that prison serves the whole state, not just Jefferson County residents.
Jefferson County Inmate Population Trends
The Vera Institute publishes county-level jail estimates going back years, which gives the Jefferson County inmate population a longer arc. The estimated jail count sat near 80 to 90 in the mid-2010s, then climbed into the 145 to 181 range from 2017 through 2023. Part of that later growth is contract housing, since federal and other-county holds make up a larger share of the recent rows. These are dataset estimates, not certified daily counts from the sheriff.
The Loyola University Center for Criminal Justice tracks Illinois jail populations and the effect of the Pretrial Fairness Act, which took effect on September 18, 2023. A reader can review the statewide and rural trend context on the Illinois Jail Population Tracker maintained by Loyola and the state jail standards unit. Loyola found that rural jails collectively saw larger than expected average daily population declines after the law took hold, though a precise Jefferson County figure was not published in that dashboard.
The tracker view above frames how the Jefferson County jail population fits within statewide patterns, which helps explain year-to-year movement that a single inspection count cannot show. The table below lists the Vera jail population estimate by year.
| Year | Jail Population (Vera est.) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 170 | 116 pretrial, 54 sentenced est. |
| 2022 | 178 | Higher federal and other holds |
| 2021 | 171 | Pretrial share rising |
| 2020 | 161 | Pandemic-year dip |
| 2019 | 178 | Near decade high |
| 2018 | 181 | Decade high estimate |
| 2017 | 145 | Sharp rise from 2016 |
| 2016 | 81 | Low point in series |
Note: Vera figures are modeled county estimates, not sheriff-certified counts, so treat year-to-year shifts as approximate rather than exact.
Who Makes Up the Jefferson County Inmate Population
The jail inspection gives only a sex breakdown for the local population. On the May 2024 inspection date, the jail held 148 men and 10 women. The Vera dataset adds estimated splits between pretrial and sentenced detainees and a count of people held for outside agencies. These shares matter because the Jefferson County inmate population is not a single bucket of local defendants.
- Pretrial vs sentenced - Vera estimated about 116 pretrial and 54 sentenced detainees in the jail in 2023.
- Male vs female - The 2024 inspection counted 148 men and 10 women on inspection day.
- Held for other agencies - The 2024 inspection lists U.S. Marshals and Vanderburgh County, Indiana, contract detainees.
- State prison residents - Big Muddy holds sentenced adult men from across Illinois, counted separately from the jail.
Jefferson County Jail Capacity and Overcrowding
The Jefferson County Justice Center is rated for 252 detainees, with 208 male beds and 44 female beds. Three booking holding rooms sit outside that rated count. On the 2024 inspection date the jail held 158 people, or roughly 63 percent of rated capacity. That percentage is a simple calculation from the inspection numbers, not a published agency rate. By that measure the jail was not overcrowded on inspection day, and the 2024 inspection addendum reported no non-compliances.
The facility was built in 2004 with one detention floor. Housing runs from single and double rooms to dormitories holding 6, 12, 20, and 24 detainees. Because the jail also accepts contract detainees, its usable space is shared between Jefferson County arrests and outside holds. No active overcrowding litigation or consent decree for this jail was found during research, so the page does not claim one exists.
Laws Governing the Jefferson County Inmate Population
The data behind the Jefferson County inmate population rests on a handful of Illinois laws. State law makes jail and arrest records public, sets minimum jail standards, and requires reporting when someone dies in custody. The state corrections agency also collects monthly jail population statistics from counties. The key statutes are woven below in plain English, each with a one-line meaning.
Key Statutes:
Illinois FOIA, 5 ILCS 140 - Public bodies must release public records, including most jail and arrest data, unless a specific exemption applies.
730 ILCS 5/3-15-2 - The state corrections department sets minimum standards for county and municipal jails.
20 Ill. Adm. Code Part 701 - The County Jail Standards rules govern admissions, release, records, housing, and health care.
730 ILCS 210/3-5 - Agencies that run jails or lockups must report deaths in custody to the state.
The state Jail and Detention Standards Unit gathers monthly detainee population counts from county jails, which is how a single jail like Jefferson County feeds into statewide totals. That collection process is described on the IDOC Jail and Detention Standards page.
Jefferson County and the State Prison Population
When a person is sentenced to prison, they leave the county jail count and join the state prison population. In Jefferson County this is easy to confuse because Big Muddy River Correctional Center is physically inside the county. Big Muddy is not the county jail. It is a medium-security adult male prison run by the Illinois Department of Corrections, and its residents come from across the state. The April 2026 IDOC quarterly report listed Big Muddy at 1,610 current residents with a February 2026 average daily population of 1,597.
Sentenced people are searched in the IDOC Individual in Custody Search, not the sheriff system. Once someone is committed to state custody, their visitation, mail, and money rules shift to IDOC as well. The county jail roster no longer tracks them.
How to Search the Jefferson County Inmate Population
Jefferson County does not publish a scrapeable public web roster. The official sheriff inmate page tells the public to download the Jefferson County Sheriff IL mobile app to view the inmate list. That makes the app the primary lookup path, with the jail phone line and a records request as the main fallbacks. The sheriff homepage and its inmate-info navigation are shown on the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office website.
The homepage above routes residents to the app rather than to a web table, so the steps below assume the app is the starting point. You need at least a last name to begin.
- Open the Jefferson County Sheriff IL app, or visit the official app download page to install it.
- Search the App Store or Google Play for "Jefferson County Sheriff IL" if you do not have the app yet.
- Open the Inmate Search or Jail Info feature inside the app to view booked detainees.
- If the person does not appear, call the jail at 618-244-8015 or the sheriff main line at 618-244-8004.
- If the person was sentenced to prison, search the IDOC locator instead of the county app.
Current Inmate Lookup in Jefferson County
For a current detainee, the app is the channel the sheriff points to. Official public web sources do not expose the app's search fields, so a generic web roster form does not exist here. The table below records what each lookup channel actually accepts rather than inventing field labels. It is built from the documented sheriff and vendor pages.
| Lookup Channel | Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sheriff website inmate page | None exposed | N/A | Page directs users to the mobile app. |
| Sheriff mobile app | Inmate search (native) | Unknown | App lists booked detainees and arrest info; fields not visible on the public web. |
| Jail phone line | Name, details by phone | Spoken | Use 618-244-8015 when the app cannot confirm a match. |
| GovQuest records portal | Date, incident, record type | Varies | Used for arrest and booking records, not live roster lookup. |
Note: research did not confirm the app's refresh rate or whether released detainees stay listed, so this page does not promise real-time updates or a fixed retention window.
Past and Released Inmate Records
Finding a past or released detainee is harder than finding a current one. The app appears to show current custody, and no published retention window was found, so an older booking may not appear at all. The official route for a past arrest or booking record is a public-records request to the sheriff through the GovQuest portal. That request form accepts categories such as arrest, incident report, photos, and body-worn camera footage, plus the incident date and type.
If the person was later sentenced and moved to prison, the county jail is no longer the right source. A released person who went to state custody is searched in the IDOC locator, while a federal case may sit with the U.S. Marshals or the Bureau of Prisons. For release and transfer alerts, Illinois VINELink can send notifications instead of forcing repeated manual checks.
What a Jefferson County Inmate Record Shows
No public web sample of a Jefferson County jail profile was viewable during research, so the fields below are marked by how well each is supported. The sheriff app advertises an inmate search that shows booked detainees and arrest information, but the public web does not confirm a mugshot, bond, or housing display. The mail rules do confirm that an inmate ID is used to route mail and money.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Name | Likely part of the app inmate list; no public web sample confirmed. |
| Inmate ID | Used for mail and money routing; can be found through the InmateSales vendor. |
| Arrest information | App text says inmate search includes information about the arrest. |
| Bond | App lets users post bail; per-charge bond display is not web-confirmed. |
| Booking photo | Not confirmed on the public web; request through records if needed. |
| Custody status | Current custody likely shown in app; retention after release not published. |
County Jail vs. State Prison: Where to Look
The single most common mistake in a Jefferson County inmate search is using the wrong system. Pretrial detainees and short-term inmates sit in the county jail and are found through the sheriff app. Sentenced felons move to an IDOC prison and are found through the statewide locator. The table sorts which system covers which part of the inmate population.
| County Jail | State Prison (DOC) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who Is Held | Pretrial and short sentences, plus contract holds | Sentenced adult felons |
| Run By | Jefferson County Sheriff's Office | Illinois Department of Corrections |
| Where to Look | Sheriff IL mobile app and jail phone | IDOC Individual in Custody Search |
| Identifier | Inmate ID / booking number | IDOC number |
State and Federal Inmate Search
Beyond the county jail, several locators cover the rest of the inmate population. The state system handles sentenced prisoners, while two federal systems and an immigration system cover their own custody. Each locator covers a different slice, so the right tool depends on who has custody.
Sentenced state prisoners appear in the IDOC Individual in Custody Search. Federal sentenced prisoners appear in the Federal Bureau of Prisons locator. Immigration detainees are tracked through the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Federal pretrial detainees are often housed under contract and handled through the U.S. Marshals Southern District of Illinois, which does not run a public locator. For custody and release alerts across these systems, register with Illinois VINELink.
The IDOC search shown above is the correct tool once a Jefferson County defendant has been sentenced and transferred, which is why it sits apart from the county jail app.
Jefferson County Detention Facilities
Two facilities hold part of the Jefferson County inmate population, and each holds a different group. The county jail handles local and contract detainees, while the state prison handles sentenced men from across Illinois. Each links to its own page with addresses, lookup steps, and visitation rules.
- Jefferson County Justice Center - The sheriff-run county jail for pretrial, short-term, and contract detainees.
- Big Muddy River Correctional Center - A state IDOC prison in Ina for sentenced adult men.
Jefferson County Inmate Population FAQ
How big is the Jefferson County inmate population?
The state jail inspection counted 158 detainees at the Jefferson County Justice Center on May 22, 2024, against 252 rated beds. A separate Vera estimate put the 2023 jail population near 170. The Big Muddy state prison in the county held about 1,610 sentenced men in the April 2026 IDOC quarterly report, but those are state prisoners, not county jail detainees.
How do I search the Jefferson County inmate population?
Use the Jefferson County Sheriff IL mobile app, which the sheriff's inmate page names as the way to view booked detainees. If the app does not show the person, call the jail at 618-244-8015. For a sentenced prisoner, use the IDOC locator instead. The county website does not publish a separate searchable web roster.
Can I look up a released or past inmate?
There is no confirmed public archive of past Jefferson County bookings online. For an older arrest or booking record, file a public-records request with the sheriff through the GovQuest portal and choose the arrest or incident category. If the person moved to state prison, the IDOC locator may still list them.
Why might someone be in the jail without a Jefferson County case?
The jail accepts contract detainees. The 2024 inspection lists holds for the U.S. Marshals Service and for Vanderburgh County, Indiana. A person can be physically housed in the Jefferson County jail while the actual case belongs to a federal court or another county.