The Detention Center
Williamson County Jail
- Operated byWilliamson County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address (IDOC 2025)404 N. Van Buren St, Marion, IL 62959
- Rated capacity (IDOC 2025)240
- Population on inspection day (IDOC 2025)128
- Year built (IDOC 2025)2012
- Jail administrator (IDOC 2025)Chief Todd Hunter
- FY ending 30 Nov 2025 budgetSheriff's Department total $8,541,779; correctional officers' salaries $2,118,510; corrections materials $692,600
Source: IDOC 2025 jail inspection report · checked 2026-09-20
Transparency rating
3/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✗Who is in custody — not published
- ✗Beds and daily population — not published
- ✓What it costs taxpayers
- ✗Deaths in custody — not published
- ✗PREA audits — not published
- ✓Independent inspection
- ✗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 built2012 (IDOC 2025 report)
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds240 rated capacity (IDOC 2025 report)
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Jeff Diederich
- 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 address404 North Van Buren St., Marion, IL 62959
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Williamson 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.
Williamson 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 elected commissioners (Jim Marlo, Tim Atkisson, Jim Rasor) per county homepage.
- The boardWilliamson County Board of Commissioners →
- Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →
Notes on the record
- County sheriff page posts 'Williamson County Jail Inspection Report' PDFs for 2017-2023; the 2023 file opened but has no machine-readable text.
- Budget for fiscal year ending 30 Nov 2025 shows Sheriff's Department total $8,541,779 with correctional officer and corrections materials lines; the 2025-26 final budget PDF has no machine-readable text.
- Sheriff's separate site wcsheriff.com could not be opened (redirect loop).
- No roster, capacity, PREA, deaths, contracts, bond or fee information found on pages opened.
- State inspection/oversight: IDOC Jail and Detention Standards Unit, inspected 27 Jun 2025: rated capacity 240, population 128 that day; noncompliances: 701.130(a)(2) personal observation 'at least every 30 minutes' — 293 of 384 expected checks timely.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Williamson 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