Illinois Inmate Search

Illinois holds its state prisoners in prisons run by the Illinois Department of Corrections, including Stateville near Joliet, Menard in Chester, Pontiac, Dixon, Sheridan, Western Illinois in Mount Sterling and Logan in Lincoln for women. County jails run by the 102 sheriffs hold pretrial detainees and people serving up to a year, and the Cook County Jail in Chicago, one of the largest single site jails in the country, holds more people than any state facility.

The IDOC Individual in Custody Search is the state prison lookup. It runs on the IDOC number or the name and covers current prisoners and people on mandatory supervised release, the Illinois term for parole.

Official sources on this page were checked on September 25, 2026.

The Individual in Custody Search returns the IDOC number, name, photograph, date of birth, race, height and weight, the parent institution, the admission date, the projected parole date, the projected discharge date and the offenses with the sentencing county, class of felony and sentence. People on mandatory supervised release show a parole district instead of an institution. Illinois moved to cash bail free pretrial release in 2023, so many people who used to sit in county jail now appear only in court records.

• IDOC Individual in Custody SearchSearch Illinois prisoners and parolees by IDOC number or name, checked September 25, 2026
• Illinois Department of CorrectionsFacility list, visiting rules, mail, phone and money deposits, checked September 25, 2026
• Illinois Prisoner Review BoardParole for pre 1978 sentences, release conditions and revocation hearings, checked September 25, 2026
• VINELink IllinoisCustody alerts for Illinois county jails and state prisons, checked September 25, 2026

The Cook County Sheriff's inmate locator covers the Cook County Jail on California Avenue in Chicago and lists the booking date, charges, bond and next court date. The DuPage County jail in Wheaton, the Lake County jail in Waukegan, the Will County Adult Detention Facility in Joliet, the Kane County jail in St. Charles, the Winnebago County jail in Rockford and the Sangamon County jail in Springfield publish their own rosters. Chicago Police hold arrestees in district lockups only until they are charged and moved to the county jail or released.

• Illinois County Sheriff DirectorySheriff offices and jail rosters for all 102 counties
• Illinois Police DepartmentsCity police records and arrest logs
• Illinois Criminal RecordsCriminal history through the Illinois State Police
• Illinois Most WantedFugitives and outstanding warrants

The Illinois Freedom of Information Act, 5 ILCS 140, makes the custody record public, and the IDOC posts photographs, physical descriptions, offenses and release dates. Sheriffs publish booking photos, though Illinois law bars commercial mugshot sites from charging for removal. Medical and mental health records, the pre-sentence report, disciplinary and gang files and juvenile records are exempt. The Illinois State Police sells a name based conviction check to anyone for a fee and provides fingerprint based checks for employers and licensing boards.

Illinois replaced discretionary parole with determinate sentences in 1978, so the Prisoner Review Board hears parole only for the few people sentenced before then, and otherwise sets the conditions of mandatory supervised release and rules on violations. Parole agents within the IDOC supervise releases. Probation is run by the circuit court of each county, so probationers appear in court records. The judgment sits with the circuit clerk of the convicting county, and most counties post a case search online.

• Illinois Court RecordsCircuit court case searches by county
• Illinois ExpungementsExpungement and sealing under the Criminal Identification Act

If the IDOC search returns nothing, check the Cook County Sheriff's inmate locator for a Chicago area arrest or the county jail roster for DuPage, Lake, Will or Kane county. Since Illinois ended cash bail, many people are released before trial, so check the circuit clerk's case search for the pending case. Check the federal Bureau of Prisons locator for a federal case and VINELink for a recent release.

These federal and national sources complement Illinois's state-level records. They are the authoritative sources you should cross-check when Illinois state records are incomplete or out-of-state activity matters.

Federal BOP, Inmate Locator The Federal Bureau of Prisons locator returns federal inmates held since 1982 in any BOP facility, contract facility, or community corrections center.

VINELink, Victim Notification Operated by Appriss for the U.S. Department of Justice's victim-notification program. Free, anonymous registration for custody-change alerts across participating states.

U.S. Marshals, Prisoner Tracking The USMS Prisoner Tracking System is the authoritative source for federal detainees in pre-trial custody (before BOP designation).