The Detention Center
Washington County Jail
- Operated byWashington County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address (IDOC 2025)245 N. Kaskaskia St, Nashville, IL 62263
- Rated capacity (IDOC 2025)30
- Population on inspection day (IDOC 2025)2
- Year built (IDOC 2025)1995
- Jail administrator (IDOC 2025)Sergeant Stephen Siegel
Source: IDOC 2025 jail inspection report · checked 2026-09-20
Transparency rating
0/10Closed- ✗The jail is named — not published
- ✗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 built1995 (IDOC 2025 report)
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds30 rated capacity (IDOC 2025 report)
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Ross Schultze
- Runs the jailYes — the sheriff is warden of the county jail (55 ILCS 5/3-15003)
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term
- Office address245 N Kaskaskia St., Nashville, IL 62263
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Washington County Sheriff's Office 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.
Washington 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 Board of Washington County: 15 members elected from three districts.
- The boardWashington County Board →
- Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →
Notes on the record
- County site's sheriff page names the sheriff and staff but gives no jail information (no jail name, roster, bond, PREA or fee information).
- A 2025-2026 budget PDF is linked on the county homepage but has no machine-readable text; its sheriff/jail line could not be verified, so budget is marked no.
- IDOC 2025 report shows only 2 people held on the inspection day.
- State inspection/oversight: IDOC Jail and Detention Standards Unit, inspected 27 Feb 2025: rated capacity 30, population 2 that day; noncompliances: none recorded.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Washington 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