The Detention Center
Pulaski County Detention Center
- Operated byPulaski County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address20 Justice Drive, Ullin, IL 62992
- Beds (county site)240
- Rated capacity (IDOC 2025)205
- Population on inspection day (IDOC 2025)103 (30 Sep 2025)
- Year built (IDOC 2025)1998
- Regional arrangement (county site)Houses detainees for Pulaski County, Alexander County and the U.S. Marshals Service
- Contract housing (IDOC 2025)U.S. Marshals, Alexander County and Union County, all listed as contracted
- Medical units (IDOC 2025)Health care units in two dormitories and one housing unit for federal detainees with acute medical needs and palliative care
- Jail AdministratorWarden Keith Clark — Named as warden/jail administrator in the IDOC 2025 inspection report; not named on the county pages opened
Source: Pulaski County Detention Center page · checked 2026-09-20
Transparency rating
3/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✗Who is in custody — not published
- ✓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 built1998 (IDOC 2025 report)
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds240 (county site); 205 rated (IDOC 2025 report)
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Randy Kern
- Runs the jailYes — the sheriff is warden of the county jail (55 ILCS 5/3-15003); the Detention Center is listed as a Sheriff's Office department
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term
- Office address (county site)500 Illinois Ave, Mound City, IL 62963
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Pulaski County Sheriff's Department · 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.
Pulaski 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).
- NoteThree-member Board of Commissioners: Robert Helman (Chairman), Rex Wilburn (Vice Chairman), Mike Sharp (Secretary). Latest minutes posted are from 2022.
- The boardPulaski County Board of Commissioners →
- Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →
Notes on the record
- County detention center page: 240-bed facility housing for Pulaski County, Alexander County and the U.S. Marshals Service; formerly known as Tri-County Detention Center (search listing title).
- Page links a signed 2025 annual PREA report and an NCCHC document; neither PDF had readable text, so their contents are not summarised and the NCCHC file is not counted as an inspection.
- Bond: only a 'Post Bond' link to a card-payment portal; no written guidance on release. Commissary via JailATM or postal money order; no rates.
- No roster, budget document, deaths-in-custody record or contract documents found on the county site.
- State inspection/oversight: IDOC Jail and Detention Standards Unit, inspected 30 September 2025: rated capacity 205, population 103 that day; noncompliances: 701.130(a)(2) supervision — "A jail officer shall provide personal observation ... at least every 30 minutes"; 308 of 348 sampled checks timely (89%).
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Pulaski 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