The Detention Center
Jerome Combs Detention Center
- Operated byKankakee County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address3050 Justice Way, Kankakee, IL 60901 (IDOC 2025); sheriff's page gives 3000 S Justice Way
- Opened11 Feb 2005; Phase 2 opened 2007 (sheriff's page)
- Rated capacity (IDOC 2025)488
- Population on inspection day (IDOC 2025)400
- Second facilityKankakee County Jail (old facility), 400 E. Merchant St, Kankakee; built 1973, rated capacity 244; empty for renovations on 20 Aug 2025 (IDOC 2025)
- Supervision modelDirect supervision (sheriff's page)
- Jail AdministratorChad Kolitwenzew — Chief of Corrections (sheriff's detention facilities page)
Source: Kankakee County Sheriff — Detention Facilities · checked 2026-09-20
Transparency rating
4/10Partial- ✓The jail is named
- ✓Who is in custody
- ✓Beds and daily population
- ✗What it costs taxpayers — not published
- ✗Deaths in custody — not published
- ✓PREA audits
- ✗Independent inspection — not published
- ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
- ✗How to post bond — not published
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year built2005 (Jerome Combs Detention Center; Phase 2 2007)
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds488 rated (IDOC 2025); sheriff's page says 456 (312 + 144)
Since then
- Phase 2 opened 2007 (sheriff's page)
- Old jail double-bunked 1994 and work-release dorm added 2003 (sheriff's page)
The Sheriff
Sheriff Michael Downey
- Runs the jailYes — the sheriff is warden of the county jail (55 ILCS 5/3-15003)
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term
- Name sourceIDOC 2025 inspection report (20 Aug 2025); the sheriff's own site does not name the sheriff in text
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: IDOC 2025 jail inspection report · 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.
Kankakee 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).
- The boardKankakee County Board →
- Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →
Notes on the record
- Sheriff's detention page names both facilities and gives capacity figures (456 at JCDC; 244 at old jail).
- Inmate search page links a Tyler public-safety roster showing booking date, bond and next court date.
- PREA/SAPPI page gives zero-tolerance policy and a reporting number (815-802-7215); no audits posted.
- Phone (Securus) and commissary pages publish no rates.
- County site posts budget ordinances only to FY2020-21; the opened ordinance text did not show a sheriff or jail line (Exhibit A not visible).
- Sheriff's site did not name the sheriff in text; name taken from IDOC 2025 report.
- State inspection/oversight: IDOC Jail and Detention Standards Unit, inspected 20 Aug 2025: Jerome Combs Detention Center rated capacity 488, population 400 that day; old Kankakee County Jail (244 rated) empty for renovations. Noncompliances recorded: 701.120 sanitation ("Extreme graffiti" in Max A-D and Flex A-C); 701.130 supervision (30-minute checks 98% on time); 701.250 commissary (net profits used for officer concealed-carry cards and medical screenings; no timely county audit); 701.270 juvenile detention (15-minute visual checks not conducted as required).
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Kankakee 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