Jail
The Cook County Sheriff's Office operates a large jail complex located at 26th Street and California Avenue in Chicago, which serves two primary purposes. The Cook County Jail holds individuals who are being detained pretrial, either as a result of not being able to post the monetary bond set by the judge or being ordered detained until the resolution of their case. In addition, the jail holds a small number of individuals who have been sentenced to serve time in jail following a conviction or those who have been sentenced to prison and are awaiting transfer to the Illinois Department of Corrections. Other individuals may be held in the jail while awaiting hearings on probation or parole violations or transfer to other jurisdictions after being arrested on an arrest warrant.
Information on jail populations comes from the Cook County Sheriff's Office jail management system. Data on this site are based on the most detailed information available at the time of publication and are intended to show general patterns in jail admissions, populations, and releases. For more details on the data, read our Glossary.
The number of people in the Cook County jail varies day to day and even over the course of a single day. This section shows data on the average daily jail population.
Jail Population
The Cook County jail admits (i.e., “books”) a large number of individuals each day, including individuals held pretrial, pending transfer to another authority, or sentenced to a term of incarceration. This section show data on the number of individuals booked into the jail.
Number of People Admitted to Jail
Individuals may be released from the Cook County Jail for several reasons, including pretrial release, case resolution, or transfer to another authority. This section shows the number of individuals released from the Cook County jail over time.
Average Length of Stay
