The Detention Center
Whiteside County Jail
- Operated byWhiteside County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address400 N Cherry St, Morrison, IL 61270
- Rated capacity (IDOC 2025)129
- Population on inspection day (IDOC 2025)44
- Year built (IDOC 2025)1980
- Jail administrator (IDOC 2025)Kim Celestino
- 2024 bookings (WCSO annual report)871
- 2024 average length of stay (WCSO annual report)25.5 days
- 2024 corrections expenses total (WCSO annual report)$2,123,032
Source: WCSO 2024 Annual Report · checked 2026-09-20
Transparency rating
4/10Partial- ✓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
- ✓Phone, video and commissary rates
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year built1980 (IDOC 2025 report)
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds129 rated capacity (IDOC 2025 report)
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff John F. Booker
- Runs the jailYes — the sheriff is warden of the county jail (55 ILCS 5/3-15003)
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term
- Jail phone815-772-5203
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Whiteside 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.
Whiteside 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 agendas and minutes are in the county's Agenda Center.
- The boardWhiteside County Board →
- Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →
Notes on the record
- Sheriff's 2024 annual report on the county site gives monthly average inmate population (about 40-48), 871 bookings and 25.5-day average stay.
- Annual report lists 2024 corrections expenses ($2,123,032) but no county budget document was opened, so budget is marked no.
- Jail Visitor Guide gives visitation rules and payment guidance for accounts/bond (cash, money order, certified check, card); fees: $3.00 on cash transactions, 10% on credit/debit.
- Annual report says the jail houses arrestees from 3 state agencies, the Sheriff's Office and 8 municipal agencies; no contracts published.
- No roster, PREA or deaths information found on pages opened.
- State inspection/oversight: IDOC Jail and Detention Standards Unit, inspected 30 Sep 2025: rated capacity 129, population 44 that day; noncompliances: none recorded.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Whiteside 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