20050609 23 Cook County Jail complex (11245534363)

The Cook County Jail, located on in South Lawndale,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

, is operated by the

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

of Cook County. A city jail has existed on this site since after the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 1 ...

of 1871, but major County prisoners were not generally collocated here until closure of the old Hubbard Street Criminal Court Building and jail in the late 1920s. Since then, a 1920s, neoclassical and art deco courthouse for the criminal division of the

Cook County Circuit Court The Circuit Court of Cook County is the largest of the 24 judicial circuits in Illinois as well as one of the largest unified court systems in the United States — second only in size to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County since that court ...

has operated here. As of 2017, Cook County operated the third-largest jail system in the United States by inmate population (after

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

and New York City jail systems). The jail has held several well-known and infamous criminals, including Tony Accardo, Frank Nitti, Larry Hoover,

Jeff Fort Jeff Fort (born February 20, 1947),

, Richard Speck,

John Wayne Gacy John Wayne Gacy (March 17, 1942 – May 10, 1994) was an American serial killer and sex offender who raped, tortured, and murdered at least 33 young men and boys. Gacy regularly performed at children's hospitals and charitable events as ...

and the Chicago Seven. It was one of three sites in which executions were carried out by electrocution in Illinois. Between 1928 and 1962, the

electric chair An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...

was used 67 times at the jail, including the state's last electrocution, that of James Duke, on August 24, 1962. The state's other electrocutions were carried out at the Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill and at the

Menard Correctional Center Menard Correctional Center, known prior to 1970 as Southern Illinois Penitentiary, is an Illinois state prison located in the town of Chester in Randolph County, Illinois. It houses maximum-security and high medium-security adult males. The ave ...

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

History

19th and 20th century

In the mid-to-late-1800s suspects in serious criminal matters were held at the site of the Cook County Criminal Court Building on Hubbard Street in a jail attached to the courthouse (the jail part was on the same block, at the back, and is sometimes identified by reference to the corner of Dearborn and Illinois Streets). A separate short-stay city jail called the "Bridewell" on Polk Street, officially the House of Correction, housed less serious offenders from within the city. The city Bridewell moved to the site of the present jail complex at 29th and California in 1871 (at the time of the

) but the county's serious alleged offenders did not generally move there until the 1920s. When the two facilities began to be located together, they first gained the reputation as the 'largest concentration of inmates in the free world.' Later, the County and City jails were institutionally merged by the

Illinois legislature The Illinois General Assembly is the state legislature (United States), legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has Bicameralism, two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created ...

, officially called the Cook County Department of Corrections, overseen by the

Cook County Sheriff's Office The Cook County Sheriff's Office is the principal law enforcement agency that serves Cook County, Illinois. It is the second largest sheriff's department in the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known a ...

. The adjacent ''

George N. Leighton George Neves Leighton (born George Neves Leitão; October 22, 1912 – June 6, 2018) was an American judge who served as a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of ...

Criminal Courts Building'' is where the prisoners criminal matters are heard in the

Circuit Court of Cook County The Circuit Court of Cook County is the largest of the 24 judicial circuits in Illinois as well as one of the largest unified court systems in the United States — second only in size to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County since that cou ...

. A rather elaborate neoclassical and

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

inspired high-rise built in the late 1920s, the courthouse was long known by just its cross-street location "26th and Cal" (26th Street and California Avenue) and has held many high-profile cases and is often seen in films and television.

21st century

One of the largest clusters of

coronavirus disease 2019 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

(COVID-19) cases in the entire United States occurred during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. As of April 22, 2020, at least 812 confirmed cases were linked to the jail; due to a lack of

testing An examination (exam or evaluation) or test is an educational assessment intended to measure a test-taker's knowledge, skill, aptitude, physical fitness, or classification in many other topics (e.g., beliefs). A test may be administered verba ...

, the actual number of infections linked to the jail is believed to be higher. The jail's inmate population dropped by almost one-fifth during the coronavirus pandemic after a state judge ordered a review of cases involving low-risk, primarily non-violent detainees. At least six inmates and one guard have died. And as of 26 July 2022, there has been one case of

monkeypox Monkeypox (also called mpox by the WHO) is an infectious viral disease that can occur in humans and some other animals. Symptoms include fever, swollen lymph nodes, and a rash that forms blisters and then crusts over. The time from exposu ...

in the prison with an inmate testing positive for the virus which is unlikely to spread across the prison.

Operations

At Metropolitan Correctional Center, Chicago (MCC Chicago) female prisoners needing to be isolated, as of 2005, have been taken to the Cook County Jail as the

security housing unit Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...

(SHU) at the former is only for males.

U.S. Department of Justice report

In July 2008, the civil rights division of the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

released a report finding that the Eighth Amendment

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

of the

inmates The Inmates are a British pub rock band, which formed after the split of The Flying Tigers in 1977. In 1982, they had a medium-sized international hit with a cover of The Standells' "Dirty Water", and a UK Top 40 hit with their cover of Jimmy ...

has been systematically violated.'A serious problem' U.S. attorney says Cook County Jail falls short of basic standards
" ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

''. July 18, 2008. The report found that the CCJ failed to adequately protect inmates from harm or risk of harm from other inmates or staff; failed to provide adequate suicide prevention; failed to provide adequate sanitary environmental conditions; failed to provide adequate fire safety precautions; and failed to provide adequate medical and mental health care. Specific alleged violations that have resulted in Federal sanctions and/or class action lawsuits include: # Systematic beatings by corrections officers # Poor food quality # Inmates' being forced to sleep on cell floors due to overcrowding and mismanagement (resulting in a $1,000 per inmate class-action settlement) # Rodent infestation and injury caused to sleeping inmates by rat and mouse bites # Violations of privacy during multiple invasive strip searches # Failure to provide adequate medical care, including failure to dispense medications # Invasive and painful mandatory tests for male STDs (resulting in a $200 per inmate class action settlement) # Unnecessarily long waiting time for discharge upon payment of bond, completion of sentence, or charges being dropped. Wait times are currently routinely in excess of 8 hours, nearly all of which is spent with many inmates packed into tiny cells.

In popular culture

The women's section of the former Cook County jail near Hubbard Street is the setting used for the musical ''Chicago'', as well as its 2002

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

. The present jail is used in segments of TV series including '' Chicago Fire'' and ''

Better Call Saul ''Better Call Saul'' is an American crime and legal drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'', and serves as a ...

''. B.B. King's ''

Live in Cook County Jail ''Live in Cook County Jail'' is a 1971 live album by American blues musician B.B. King, recorded on September 10, 1970, in Cook County Jail in Chicago. Agreeing to a request by jail warden Winston Moore, King and his band performed for an audi ...

'' album features a live recording of a concert that he performed for the jail's inmates on September 10, 1970. A live album '' Concert: Friday the 13th - Cook County Jail'' featuring performances by jazz musicians

Jimmy McGriff James Harrell McGriff (April 3, 1936 – May 24, 2008) was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist and organ trio bandleader. Biography Early years and influences Born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, United States, McGriff started playing pi ...

and

Lucky Thompson Eli "Lucky" Thompson (June 16, 1924 – July 30, 2005) was an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist whose playing combined elements of swing and bebop. Although John Coltrane usually receives the most credit for bringing the soprano sa ...

was released on the

Groove Merchant Groove Merchant was an American jazz and R&B record label during the 1970s. It was run by producer Sonny Lester and distributed by Pickwick Records. Notable artists included Chick Corea, O'Donel Levy, Buddy Rich, Jimmy McGriff, Lonnie Smith ...

label in 1973) The song "My Long Walk to Jail" on Filter's 2002 album '' The Amalgamut'' includes a sample of an incoming call from Cook County Jail. The Cook County Prison was referenced to by Elwood Blues (

Dan Aykroyd Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1979). During his tenure on ''SNL'' ...

) in the film ''

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respecti ...

'' as serving oatmeal to inmates. The Cook County Prison is where Bigger Thomas is held, in

Richard Wright Richard Wright may refer to: Arts * Richard Wright (author) (1908–1960), African-American novelist * Richard B. Wright (1937–2017), Canadian novelist * Richard Wright (painter) (1735–1775), marine painter * Richard Wright (artist) (born 19 ...

's '' Native Son''.

References

External links

Cook County Department of Corrections Website

Department of Justice Findings Letter
{{Coord, 41.8414, -87.6975, type:landmark_region:US-IL, display=title Jails in Illinois Buildings and structures in Chicago Capital punishment in Illinois County government agencies in Illinois West Side, Chicago Execution sites in the United States