The Detention Center
Wayne County Jail
- Operated byWayne County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address305 E Court Street, Fairfield IL 62837
- Beds (county site)34
- Year built (county site)1993
- Rated capacity (IDOC 2025)28
- Population on inspection day (IDOC 2025)15
- Jail administrator (IDOC 2025)Sergeant Mike Miller
- Commissary vendorStellar Services
- Phone/video vendorCombined Public Communications (CPC)
Source: Wayne County Sheriff's Office page · checked 2026-09-20
Transparency rating
2/10Closed- ✓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 — 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 built1993
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds34 (county site); IDOC 2025 rated capacity 28
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Chris Otey
- 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 address305 E Court Street, Fairfield IL 62837
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Wayne 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.
Wayne 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).
- NoteWayne County Board: 14 members from 7 districts; chairman Daryl Hargrave. Agendas and minutes posted on the board page.
- The boardWayne County Board →
- Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →
Notes on the record
- County site says the jail was built in 1993 and is a 34-bed facility; the IDOC 2025 report gives rated capacity 28.
- Detainee pages cover mail, visitation, commissary, deposits and court appearances; no roster, bond/pretrial, PREA or budget pages found.
- Offsite video visits: 'fees apply, to be paid by the visitor' — no rates published. Onsite video visits are free.
- State inspection/oversight: IDOC Jail and Detention Standards Unit, inspected 27 Aug 2025: rated capacity 28, population 15 that day; noncompliances: none recorded.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Wayne 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