The Detention Center
Randolph County Jail
- Operated byRandolph County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address (IDOC 2025)200 W. Buena Vista St, Chester, IL 62233
- Rated capacity (IDOC 2025)44
- Population on inspection day (IDOC 2025)31 (29 male, 2 female)
- Year built (IDOC 2025)1974
- Bookings 2025 (sheriff annual report)738 (744 in 2024)
- Federal prisonersSheriff's 2025 annual report: housing and transporting federal inmates for the U.S. Marshals Service generated $521,760 for the county general fund
- RenovationSheriff's 2025 annual report: approximately $4.3 million awarded for facility renovations and new construction, project nearing completion
- Jail AdministratorAmy Howell — IDOC 2025 inspection report as jail administrator
Source: IDOC 2025 jail inspection report · checked 2026-09-20
Transparency rating
4/10Partial- ✓The jail is named
- ✓Who is in custody
- ✗Beds and daily population — not published
- ✓What it costs taxpayers
- ✗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 built1974 (IDOC 2025 report)
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds44 rated (IDOC 2025 report)
Since then
- Sheriff's 2025 annual report: about $4.3 million awarded for facility renovations and new construction
The Sheriff
Sheriff Jarrod Peters
- Runs the jailYes — the sheriff is warden of the county jail; the office says its correctional staff conduct booking, detention and release
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term
- Office address200 W Buena Vista St, Chester, IL 62233
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Randolph County Sheriff page · 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.
Randolph 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 elected Board of Commissioners (commission form); members listed: Dave Holder (Chairman), Andy Gerlach, Ronnie White.
- The boardRandolph County Board of Commissioners →
- Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →
Notes on the record
- Sheriff's Corrections page refers to the 'Randolph County Jail facility' and publishes a zero-tolerance sexual-abuse (PREA) statement with a reporting line.
- Sheriff's 'Current Inmate Listing' page links to an externally hosted in-custody roster (swssite.net) that shows Randolph County, IL entries.
- 2023 county budget shows Sheriff ($1,463,228.96) and Corrections ($856,652.56) appropriations, and a 'Jail Healthcare Contract' line of $84,000; the 2024 budget PDF could not be read.
- Sheriff's 2025 annual report states 738 bookings and U.S. Marshals housing revenue of $521,760; the housing contract itself was not found posted.
- No bond/pretrial release guidance, fee rates, capacity figures or deaths-in-custody information found on the county or sheriff pages opened.
- The Corrections page lists 1 W Taylor St (the courthouse) as its address; IDOC lists the jail at 200 W. Buena Vista St.
- State inspection/oversight: IDOC Jail and Detention Standards Unit, inspected 23 July 2025: rated capacity 44, population 31 that day; noncompliances: one, 701.130 a) 2) Supervision — personal observation 'at least every 30 minutes' (98% of sampled checks timely); recommendation: 'Ensure these checks are being completed according to the Illinois County Jail Standards.'
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Randolph 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