The Detention Center
None — no county jail
- Operated byNot applicable
- Jail status'No Jail' (Illinois Sheriffs' Association); no jail described on the county sheriff page
- Where prisoners goNot found — not stated on the county sheriff page, board page, 2025/2026 budgets, or board minutes opened (Oct 2025–Jul 2026)
- Courthouse and Jail CommitteeThe county board still has a 'Courthouse and Jail Committee' that approves bills (board minutes, e.g. 13 Jul 2026)
- New buildingJune 2026 minutes refer to a 'new highway/sheriff building' under construction
Source: Illinois Sheriffs' Association — Cass County · checked 2026-09-20
Transparency rating
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year builtNot applicable — no county jail
- Original costNot applicable
- Paid for byNot applicable
- BedsNot applicable
Since then
- Not applicable
The Sheriff
Sheriff Devron Ohrn
- Runs the jailNo county jail ('No Jail' per Illinois Sheriffs' Association); the county sheriff page mentions no jail
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term (elected 2018 per Illinois Sheriffs' Association)
- Office address101 N. Front St., Virginia, IL 62691 (county sheriff page)
- Phone(217) 452-7718
- Service24-hour law enforcement for the county's 384 square miles (county sheriff page)
- Name sourceCass County sheriff page on co.cass.il.us
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Cass County — Sheriff · 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.
Cass 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).
- NoteCass County Board: chairman Bill Merriman; 11 members in four districts (county board page). Audits and budgets FY2017–FY2026 posted at https://co.cass.il.us/county-information/audits-and-budgets. Sheriff's Office budget $1,417,600 for FY ending 30 Nov 2026 ($1,402,850 FY2025).
- The boardCass County Board →
- Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →
Notes on the record
- Cass County has no county jail: no IDOC 2025 or 2024 inspection report exists (404), the Illinois Sheriffs' Association says 'No Jail', and the county's own sheriff page describes no jail. Checks left empty because there is no jail to assess.
- County site co.cass.il.us opened on 20 Sep 2026: sheriff page, county board page, audits-and-budgets page, agendas-minutes page.
- Where Cass County's arrestees are held was not found: the sheriff page, board page, FY2025 and FY2026 audit/budget documents and board minutes (Oct 2025, Dec 2025, Jan, May, Jun, Jul 2026) name no housing county and show no prisoner-boarding line.
- FY2026 budget (year ending 30 Nov 2026) lists 'Sheriff's Office 1,417,600'; FY2025 lists 'Sheriff's Office 1,402,850', 'Sheriff Fees 40,000' and 'Sheriff Salary Reimbursement 87,500'.
- Board minutes show a standing 'Courthouse and Jail Committee' that approves bills monthly, and (June 2026) a 'new highway/sheriff building' under construction.
- The sheriff page links a civil process fee schedule: https://www.co.cass.il.us/download_file/view/225/204 (not opened).
- State inspection/oversight: No 2025 or 2024 IDOC Jail and Detention Standards Unit report for Cass County (no county jail); the facility holding its detainees was not found on any county page opened.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Cass 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