Washington County Jail Releases
Washington County Jail is the county's only verified adult detention facility. The Washington County Sheriff's Office operates it at 245 N. Kaskaskia Street in Nashville. An Illinois Department of Corrections inspection dated February 26, 2024, identifies the jail as a 1995 facility with a rated capacity of 32. Its layout included four single detention rooms, eleven double rooms, and one six-person dorm. The inspection-day count was six, which is a dated observation rather than a live population figure.
The facility holds local detainees and can hold people for other authorities. Its small size does not make every exit the same. Bond or pretrial release, dismissal, time served, or sentence completion can lead to the community. A court commitment can instead send a person to IDOC. Area counties and the U.S. Marshals also use the jail. Each departure should be described by its recorded authority and destination.
Washington County Jail Release Routes
The release record must be read as a routing record. A person discharged under local court or jail authority may enter the community, perhaps with a court case or probation still active. A person committed to IDOC remains confined after leaving the county building. Someone held for another county may return to that jurisdiction. A federal detainee may move to a courthouse, another contract jail, or federal prison.
| Recorded route | What the jail exit means | Where to verify next |
|---|---|---|
| Community discharge | Washington County custody ended without a recorded transfer | Sheriff release entry and court order |
| IDOC commitment | Local custody ended; state prison custody began or continued | IDOC profile, number, status, and parent institution |
| Another county | The person moved to that county's authority | Receiving county and its case record |
| U.S. Marshals | The local building changed, but federal custody may continue | Federal docket, USMS, then BOP if sentenced |
A detainer can also cause immediate pickup after one authority releases a person. Never infer the destination from a missing name or a court event. Ask for the holding agency, releasing or transfer authority, and destination when it can be disclosed.
Confirm a Washington County Jail Release
No official Washington County roster, recent-release archive, mobile app, or photo gallery was found. There is no verified 24-hour, 48-hour, or 72-hour local feed. A telephone report, VINE event, or court docket can provide a lead, but the sheriff owns the local release record.
- Collect identifying facts. Use the full name, birth date when legitimately known, booking or case number, and approximate custody dates.
- Review the court case. Look for the bond, pretrial-release, dismissal, sentence, probation, or commitment order that supplies legal authority.
- Request the jail entry. Ask for the date, time, and authority for discharge, release, or transfer, plus the verbatim type or destination field.
- Separate discharge from transfer. If another agency assumed custody, record its name and continue in that system.
- Confirm any VINE notice. Save the event text, timestamp, identity, and reporting agency, then ask the jail when transfer and release are unclear.
A judge's order and a physical release are separate facts. Processing, another warrant, a federal hold, or a detainer can prevent immediate community exit. The complete county search and court-record path is described on the Washington County released-inmate search.
Washington County Jail Release Entry
The 2024 inspection measures local practice against 20 Ill. Admin. Code section 701.60. Release or transfer procedures require positive identity and a record of the date, time, and authority. Staff also document a search, wounds or injuries, property return, and medication handling. These details help identify the transaction, but medical information is not an ordinary public field.
| Requested field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Booking identifier | Links the request to the correct jail stay |
| Admission date and time | Defines the custody period |
| Arresting and holding agencies | Separates the arrest from the legal custodian |
| Case number and charge | Connects the jail entry to the controlling court record |
| Release or transfer date and time | Records when local custody changed |
| Release authority | Identifies who ordered or authorized the event |
| Verbatim type or destination | Distinguishes community discharge from continued custody |
The inspection does not publish a controlled list of local codes for bond, time served, dismissal, transfer, or another reason. Request the original field and code legend. Do not supply a guessed label. A death in custody must never be described as a routine release.
Washington County Property Receipt
The permanent signed property receipt is a distinctive local release record. The inspection standard calls for an inventory and return of personal property, followed by an itemized receipt signed by the released person. The retained copy is permanent. That record can corroborate the discharge transaction and show what staff documented as returned.
A person disputing property should request the signed itemized receipt and related inventory or return record rather than rely only on memory. Medication documentation follows a different access path because health information can be sensitive. The released person or an authorized representative should use the proper personal or legal process for that material.
Note: Name the permanent signed itemized receipt in the request; a vague demand for every record may miss this precise local document.
Request Washington County Jail Records
The official Washington County Sheriff's Office page identifies Brittany Bateman as FOIA Officer. Direct requests to 245 N. Kaskaskia Street, Nashville, IL 62263, call 618-327-8274 extension 8, or email foiarequests@washingtonco.illinois.gov. The office also lists sdrecords@washingtonco.illinois.gov for records and invoices. The inspection separately used 618-327-4800 for the jail, so the sheriff's main published extension is the safer records starting point.
A focused request should name the booking sheet, booking photograph, release or transfer entry, and permanent property receipt. Include the person's identifiers and approximate date. Ask for the date, time, authority, verbatim release-type or destination value, and code legend. If the entry says transfer, request the receiving agency and destination when disclosable.
Illinois FOIA generally provides a five-business-day response baseline for a noncommercial request, with an allowed extension for statutory reasons and notice. No special Washington County sheriff form, local fee schedule, records hours, or faster response promise was verified. Ask for electronic segregable nonexempt portions and an estimate before chargeable duplication. Juvenile, sealed, expunged, medical, safety, pending-case, and correctional-security material can require withholding or redaction.
Request the court order from the Circuit Clerk, not the sheriff. Send an IDOC history request to IDOC. Federal custody records belong with the relevant federal agency. Each office should receive the part it owns.
Washington County USMS Custody
The jail's U.S. Marshals contract is the county's concrete federal-custody link. A federal pretrial or transport detainee can occupy a Washington County bed while USMS controls placement and movement. Leaving Nashville may mean transfer to another contract jail, a federal courthouse, or a later BOP designation. It does not by itself mean community release.
Start with the sheriff's transfer authority and destination, then review the federal docket. Contact USMS or the current holding facility for pretrial and transport custody. Use the BOP Inmate Locator after a sentenced person enters BOP custody. A BOP no-result can simply mean the person has not entered that sentenced-custody system.
No official evidence established an ICE contract at Washington County Jail. Immigration custody should not be inferred from a local departure. Use that path only when an agency record names ICE or a legitimate immigration identifier supports the inquiry.
Washington County Jail Movement
The jail was built in 1995 and had a rated capacity of 32 in the 2024 inspection. Its addendum recorded a repurposed video-court room and a purchased transport van. A video appearance can occur while a person remains confined. A trip in the transport van can move someone to court or another facility without releasing that person into the community.
The addendum also described approved or planned lock, lighting, and plumbing work, contracted camera installation, control-board design, and flooring replacement. These are dated plans or project descriptions. Without a later source, they must not be reported as completed improvements. Their relevance is limited to facility context, not proof of a release practice.
Court and jail records also come from different Nashville locations. The jail is on North Kaskaskia Street, while the Judicial Center is at 125 E. Elm Street. A court order recorded at the Judicial Center and physical discharge recorded at the jail should be treated as two linked events.
Washington County Multi-Agency Releases
Washington County Jail houses people for area counties as well as USMS. That arrangement can separate the arresting agency, physical holding site, case jurisdiction, and releasing authority. A Nashville police arrest may lead to a Washington County bed. Another person in the same building may be held under federal authority. The address alone does not identify which agency controls release.
A strong request captures every role: arresting agency, booking agency, holding facility, case number and jurisdiction, release or transfer authority, and destination. Follow the destination rather than treating the end of one jail stay as the end of all custody. This is especially important when a commitment to IDOC or return to another county is recorded.
Ashley, Irvington, Nashville, and Okawville police departments are arresting or temporary-hold agencies in the available local sources. No separately searchable long-term adult jail or release feed was verified for them. Request the incident record from the arresting department and the custody-release record from the actual holding facility. Do not treat a police-station departure as final release.
Washington County Jail Contact
Use the sheriff's published records contact before visiting because no official records hours or local fee schedule was found.
Washington County Jail
245 N. Kaskaskia St.
Nashville, IL 62263
618-327-8274 ext. 8
foiarequests@washingtonco.illinois.gov
sdrecords@washingtonco.illinois.gov
Sheriff Ross Schultze was identified by the inspection, and Brittany Bateman is listed as FOIA Officer on the county page. Verify current personnel and access arrangements directly. VINE can help monitor a matching event, but the sheriff record remains the source for the exact local date, time, and authority.