The Detention Center
Grundy County Jail
- Operated byGrundy County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address111 E Washington St, Morris, IL 60450
- Capacity (county jail page)65 inmates
- Rated capacity (IDOC 2025)63 (57 male, 6 female)
- Population on inspection day (IDOC 2025)28 (25 male, 3 female)
- Average population 2024 (sheriff annual report)22 (19 male, 3 female)
- Staff (2024 annual report)12 full-time correctional officers, 3 vacant positions
- Year built (IDOC 2025)1975
- FY2026 budgetSheriff (001-20-0000) $5,455,202; Jail Operations (001-21-0000) $1,884,801; Housing of Prisoners revenue (001-20-3372) $175,000
- Jail AdministratorTanya Paquette — Jail administrator named in the IDOC 2025 inspection report (not named on the county site)
Source: Grundy County Jail page (county site) · checked 2026-09-20
Transparency rating
4/10Partial- ✓The jail is named
- ✗Who is in custody — not published
- ✓Beds and daily population
- ✓What it costs taxpayers
- ✗Deaths in custody — not published
- ✗PREA audits — not published
- ✗Independent inspection — not published
- ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
- ✓How to post bond
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year built1975 (IDOC 2025 report)
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds65 (county jail page); IDOC 2025 rated capacity 63
Since then
- 2024 upgrades: plumbing renovations, floor resurfacing, in-cell monitoring systems, equipment replacement (sheriff 2024 annual report)
The Sheriff
Sheriff Ken Briley
- Runs the jailYes — the sheriff is warden of the county jail (55 ILCS 5/3-15003)
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term
- Annual reportSheriff posts annual reports (2022–2024) on the county site
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Grundy County Sheriff (county site) · 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.
Grundy 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).
- Note18 members, 3 districts; chair Drew Muffler (county board page). Agendas and minutes on the county's iQM2 portal.
- The boardGrundy County Board →
- Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →
Notes on the record
- The county jail page names the Grundy County Jail, states capacity of 65, and explains visitation (video via CPC/inmatesales.com), commissary (up to $100 per order) and phone accounts, but gives no fee rates.
- Bond guidance on the jail page: "Cash for bond will be accepted (no personal checks) Exact amount only no change is given"; certified bank checks and cards via CourtMoney.com. It does not describe the post-2023 pretrial release process.
- The FY2026 budget (county site, served from the county's CMS host) shows Sheriff $5,455,202, Jail Operations $1,884,801 and $175,000 budgeted revenue for Housing of Prisoners.
- The sheriff's 2024 annual report gives average jail population of 22 in 2024; no deaths-in-custody, PREA, inspection or contract information.
- No inmate roster found; the sheriff's page links only an OffenderWatch sex-offender registry.
- The IDOC 2025 report names a jail administrator (Tanya Paquette); the county site does not.
- State inspection/oversight: IDOC Jail and Detention Standards Unit, inspected 30 Apr 2025: rated capacity 63, population 28 that day; noncompliances: none recorded.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Grundy 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