Search Washington County Jail Custody

Washington County Jail Overview

Washington County Jail is operated by the Washington County Sheriff's Office. The current sheriff is Sheriff Ross Schultze, whose office is the local custody point for jail questions, jail service rules, and sheriff records. The jail is a county jail, not an Illinois Department of Corrections prison and not a federal detention center. That distinction matters. A person arrested in Nashville, Okawville, Ashley, or another Washington County community may start in the county jail, while a person sentenced to state prison later moves into the IDOC system and must be searched through IDOC instead.

The WCSO corrections location page shows the Washington County Jail address, local directions, and the current bed count used by the Sheriff's Office. The jail sits in downtown Nashville near the courthouse and the Washington County Judicial Center, so court, sheriff, and custody tasks are clustered in the same central county area.

The screenshot is useful because it comes from the jail's own corrections page, not a third-party directory. It supports the practical visitor details for address, public approach, and the local bed-count statement.

Washington County Jail Population

Washington County Jail is a small rural county facility. WCSO currently lists 25 jail beds on its corrections location page. The IDOC Jail and Detention Standards inspection for January 27, 2021 listed a different dated snapshot: 30 total capacity, with 26 male beds and 4 female beds, and 10 people in custody on the inspection date. Those figures should not be merged into one current number. The safer reading is that WCSO publishes the current public bed count, while the IDOC report records the inspection capacity and population as of that 2021 inspection.

Washington County Jail Lookup

No official Washington County online jail roster or mugshot gallery was found on the WCSO or county government pages reviewed. That means a Washington County Jail custody check should begin with direct official channels, not with an assumed web roster. The jail line is the first local contact for current custody questions. Dispatch is available around the clock for routing when the jail office is not the right point of contact. If staff cannot release information by phone, the next step is a sheriff records request or a court search after charges are filed.

1. Call Washington County Jail at 618-327-4800 ext. 114 with the person's full name and date of birth if known.
2. If the matter is urgent after office hours, call WCSO dispatch at 618-327-8274 ext. 4 and ask for the proper custody contact.
3. For records not released by phone, use the WCSO FOIA channel listed on the WCSO links and FOIA page.
4. Check Illinois VINELink for custody or case-status notifications if the person may be in a participating county or state system.
5. Use IDOC only after a person has moved from Washington County Jail into sentenced state prison custody.

A booking and a court case are separate records. Jail staff may know whether a person is held, released, or transferred. The Circuit Clerk, Judici, and re:SearchIL are better places to look for filed court charges, hearing dates, and case events after the arrest. For a fuller roster workflow, the Washington County jail inmate records page explains the fallback chain in more detail.

Washington County Jail Contact

The jail and Sheriff's Office share the same Nashville address. WCSO's contact materials separate the jail extension, the 24-hour dispatch extension, and the general sheriff number, so use the line that fits the need. For a current custody question, start with the jail extension. For after-hours routing, dispatch is the more practical route. For administrative records or sheriff office business, the main WCSO number is appropriate.

The official WCSO contact page is the best source for current phone routing because local extensions can change. Visitors should also confirm arrival rules before traveling, especially when court schedules, renovation work, or jail operations may affect public access.

Washington County Jail Visits

The WCSO visitation, bond, commissary, and PREA page divides visits by County Inmates and All Other inmates, then by male and female schedules. WCSO says the jail does not allow contact visits. Approved visitors must produce photo identification, and a visitor under 17 must be with a parent or legal guardian. WCSO also states that inmates may list up to four approved adult visitors and that two or more people visiting at the same time count as one visit.

WCSO does not define the full scope of "All Other" on the public page. Treat it as a local jail classification label, not as proof of a separate building or a separate federal facility. If a person is not sure which schedule applies, the jail line should be called before the visitor arrives.

Washington County Jail Mail

The WCSO phone and mail page gives the clearest rules for reaching someone in custody. A phone is generally available to inmates from 7:00 AM to 10:30 PM daily, but WCSO says phones may be affected by extenuating circumstances. Inmates cannot receive incoming calls, and staff will not pass phone messages. Calls must be collect or made with a phone card bought through commissary. WCSO identifies Stellar Services for prepaid phone accounts and account help.

Mail should be addressed with the inmate's full name, the jail name, and the Nashville street address. Incoming mail is opened and inspected for funds and contraband. Scented or perfumed incoming mail is returned to sender. WCSO also states that no care packages are accepted, so family or friends should not mail food, clothing, or bundled goods unless jail staff have given direct written approval.

Washington County Jail Booking

Washington County does not publish a full booking manual, but the IDOC inspection categories and Illinois county jail standards show the custody steps that matter to a public records search. After arrest, a person is brought into jail custody, searched, identified, and entered into booking and personal records. Jail staff document property, screen for medical or mental-health concerns, create custody records, and assign suitable quarters through classification. Classification means the jail's housing and supervision decision based on risk, sex, medical needs, behavior, and other security factors.

Public access to those records is more limited than the internal file. Illinois FOIA allows access to specified arrest information, including identifying information, charges, arrest time and place, arresting agency, and custody receipt, discharge, or transfer timing, subject to exemptions. A records request should be specific. Include full name, date of birth if known, arrest date, arresting agency, and the requested items, such as booking sheet, arrest report, custody dates, charges, and booking photograph if available and releasable.

Washington County Jail PREA

WCSO publishes PREA reporting instructions for concerns involving a Washington County inmate or detainee. PREA is the Prison Rape Elimination Act, a federal law that addresses sexual abuse, sexual assault, staff sexual misconduct, and sexual harassment in confinement. Reports may be made by phone at 618-327-8274 or in writing to Washington County Jail, Attn: PREA, 245 N. Kaskaskia St., Nashville, IL 62263.

Conditions information in the research is tied mostly to the IDOC 2021 inspection. The inspection noted law-library kiosk access and an area for video conferencing with court, attorneys, and physicians. It also found one noncompliance related to 30-minute personal-observation checks: 7 of 155 observations exceeded the required interval, and the recommendation was to ensure checks are completed according to Illinois County Jail Standards.

Washington County Jail Inspection

The 2021 IDOC inspection described Washington County Jail as a 1995 facility and listed several improvements since the prior inspection, including court, attorney, and physician video-conference access, law-library resources through kiosks, a refrigerator purchase, kitchen-rack material changes, and replacement uniforms. Those details are important because they are official inspection notes, not promotional copy. They also show that the jail's public records trail includes state jail standards, not only WCSO service pages.

Official county board minutes also reference a jail renovation project. August 13, 2024 minutes indicate work would start on jail renovation after dispatch moved. October 8, 2024 minutes say Korte Luitjohan hoped to begin jail renovations on January 6, 2025. June 10, 2025 minutes reference the jail project again, but the available text extraction was limited. Use those minutes as renovation-planning references, not as a complete construction history.