The Detention Center
McDonough County Jail
- Operated byMcDonough County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address110 S. McArthur Street, Macomb, IL 61455
- Jail phone(309) 833-5245
- Rated capacity (IDOC 2025)58 (51 male, 7 female)
- Population on inspection day (IDOC 2025)29 (25 male, 4 female)
- Year built (IDOC 2025)1967
- Jail AdministratorCaitlin Willey — Jail administrator — full name from the IDOC 2025 report; sheriff's corrections page lists "Jail Administrator Willey"
Source: McDonough County Sheriff's Office — About Us · checked 2026-09-20
Transparency rating
1/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✗Who is in custody — not published
- ✗Beds and daily population — not published
- ✗What it costs taxpayers — not published
- ✗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 — not published
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year built1967 (IDOC 2025 report)
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds58 rated (IDOC 2025 report)
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Nicholas Petitgout
- Runs the jailYes — the sheriff's office operates the McDonough County Jail with its own corrections staff
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: McDonough County Sheriff's Office — Sheriff and Deputies · 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.
McDonough 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 (mcg.mcdonough.il.us, per Wikipedia) could not be opened; governing body not confirmed from a county page.
- The boardNot found
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- Sheriff site mcdonoughcountysheriff.com names the McDonough County Jail at 110 S. McArthur St. and lists its corrections staff.
- No roster, visitation, fee, bond/pretrial, PREA, inspection, deaths or contract information found on the sheriff site; links page lists only outside agencies and VINE.
- County government site could not be opened, so budget and board records were not examined.
- What was tried: mcg.mcdonough.il.us and www.mcg.mcdonough.il.us (PROVENANCE_REQUIRED).
- State inspection/oversight: IDOC Jail and Detention Standards Unit, inspected 18 September 2025: rated capacity 58, population 29 that day; noncompliances: none recorded.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in McDonough 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