The Detention Center
Not found
- Operated byCalhoun County Sheriff
- BedsIllinois Sheriffs' Association page lists 2 jail beds
- Where prisoners go for longer custodyNot found
- What was tried— no IDOC-inspected county jail
Source: Illinois Sheriffs' Association — Calhoun County · checked 2026-09-20
Transparency rating
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year builtNot found
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds2 (Illinois Sheriffs' Association page; not on county site)
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Zach Hardin
- Runs the jailCounty duties page lists 'Managing and operating the county jail or detention facilities'; no IDOC-inspected jail found
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term; Illinois Sheriffs' Association page says he was appointed in 2026 (vacancy)
- Office address301 S. County Rd., PO Box 225, Hardin, IL 62047
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Calhoun County — Sheriff's Office · checked 2026-09-20
The Judges
Illinois circuit judges are elected on a partisan ballot and then stand for retention every six years (60% yes needed); associate judges are appointed by the circuit judges. They are state judicial officers, not county officials. Since 18 September 2023 Illinois has no cash bail — judges decide pretrial release or detention at a hearing.
Calhoun County Circuit Court
- Not found
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to first appearance
Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-09-20
The County Board
They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.
- What they controlThe detention budget, the building itself, and the agreements that let other agencies rent its beds.
- What they don'tDay-to-day operations. The sheriff is separately elected and is the warden of the jail by state law (55 ILCS 5/3-15003).
- NoteCounty site calls it the County Board of Commissioners; latest minutes listed 15 Dec 2025 (hosted on Google Drive). No budget found.
- The boardCounty Board of Commissioners →
- Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →
Notes on the record
- No 2025 or 2024 IDOC inspection report exists for Calhoun County at the standard URL (404).
- Illinois Sheriffs' Association lists only 2 jail beds; where Calhoun detainees are held beyond that was not found on any page opened.
- County sheriff pages (home, mission, duties) contain nothing on a named jail, roster, bond, fees or PREA; the forms page timed out.
- Sheriff Zach Hardin is shown on the county site; the ISA page says he was appointed in 2026.
- Not scored: the county runs no jail of its own, so the ten jail-disclosure questions do not apply.
- State inspection/oversight: No 2025 IDOC Jail and Detention Standards Unit report found for Calhoun County; the facility holding its detainees was not found.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Calhoun County and what it costs the people who live here. Nationally, almost 77% of the people who died in local jails in 2019 had not been convicted of anything, and suicide was the leading single cause of those deaths (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2019).
How much is your sheriff — and your judge — costing you?
Your VOTE is POWERFUL.
The sheriff who runs this jail is elected. So are the county board members who pay for it.
Names verified 2026-09-20 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered