Look Up Madison County Jail Inmates

Madison County Jail Roster Overview

The Madison County Sheriff's Office runs the county jail at 405 Randle Street in Edwardsville, and the sheriff is the jail's administrator. No public web roster was found on the county site during research. Instead, the Jail Division page tells callers to dial 618-692-1064 for inmate information, and the FAQ says an automated system can read back charge and bond details. So the live status of a Madison County inmate comes from the phone, not a searchable page. Refresh rates, filters, and retention windows that a web roster would publish simply do not apply here.

The county line does not cover everyone. Sentenced felons leave the jail for state prison and are tracked by the Illinois Department of Corrections. Federal defendants run through the U.S. Marshals and the federal Bureau of Prisons. Immigration detainees are found through ICE. People booked by the City of Alton may be held at the Alton Police Department Jail rather than the county jail. Each of those is a separate channel, covered further down.

How to Use the Madison County Inmate Information Line

The fastest route to a current detainee is a direct call. The jail FAQ confirms that callers can pull charge and bond information through the automated system. Have your details ready before you dial so you do not have to call back.

The screenshot below shows the jail FAQ that describes the automated charge and bond access.

1. Confirm the person was arrested locally or has a pending Madison County case, which points to county custody.
2. Call the inmate information line at 618-692-1064.
3. Give the full legal name, with a spelling, plus a date of birth and the arrest date.
4. Follow the automated prompts for charge and bond, or hold for staff if the system cannot match the name.

Madison County Phone Lookup Fields

Without a web form, the search "fields" are the facts to have on hand when the line answers. A full name is the anchor. A date of birth separates people who share a name. A Sheriff ID number, the local identifier the jail uses to mark detainee property, helps when you have it. The table mirrors the phone channel rather than a set of boxes on a screen.

What a Madison County Inmate Record May Include

Because there is no public profile page, the list below shows what the official sources support, not a screen you can scroll. Charge and bond are confirmed phone answers. A Sheriff ID number appears in the jail's property policy. A full booking record or arrest report exists, but it comes through a records request rather than an open roster. Booking photos are not posted by the county, so treat the photo field as request-only.

Booking photos and what the state law says about them are covered on the jail roster mugshots page.

Finding County, State, and Federal Inmates

Pointing a search at the right system saves a lot of time. The county jail line covers pre-trial detainees and short county sentences. Sentenced felons move to the Illinois Department of Corrections locator. Federal inmates appear in the Bureau of Prisons locator once committed, while federal pre-trial detainees run through the U.S. Marshals. Immigration custody is searched through the ICE detainee locator. For release alerts, VINELink adds custody and victim notification.

Madison County Jail Facilities

Two adult facilities matter most for an inmate search in the county. The Madison County Jail is the main site for sheriff and local police arrests. The Alton Police Department Jail is a municipal facility that, unusually, also holds state and federal prisoners under a U.S. Marshals contract. Confirm which one holds the person before you call.

Booking Process in Madison County

Booking starts when a deputy or local officer brings an arrested person to the jail. The arrival area has phones, and under a 2022 rule a new detainee gets three free calls in the first three hours. Intake covers identity, charges, property, a search, medical and mental-health screening, and classification into a housing area. The county documented work on its intake area, booking office, and holding cells in the 2024 inspection, along with electronic medical records and added behavioral-health staffing.

From there the case moves toward court. The sheriff transports prisoners to hearings, and the charges that a prosecutor files open the court record. No county page states a fixed window for when a booking would appear in any public listing, because none is published. Illinois pre-trial law and the court schedule drive the timing of a first appearance. The pathway from arrest to filed charges is covered on the court records after a jail arrest page.

Madison County Jail Visitation Hours

The county jail does not offer contact visits or onsite family visitation. Family and friends visit by video through IC Solutions, scheduled at least 24 hours and up to a week ahead, for 30 minutes. Visits are monitored and recorded, and arriving more than 15 minutes late marks the visit missed. Only an attorney or a court-assigned visitor gets a contact visit, by appointment and after a search. The table sets out each visit type rather than weekday hours, since that is how the county publishes it.

The screenshot below shows the visitor information page and its IC Solutions video scheduling notice.

How to Contact a Madison County Inmate

Mail rules at the county jail are strict and have changed. Since late 2021 the jail no longer accepts non-privileged personal mail at the building. Personal letters and drawings are delivered digitally to detainee tablets through a free messaging app. Personal mail sent to the jail is returned. The mailing path for items that are allowed runs through a digital mail vendor in Phoenix, Maryland, addressed with the inmate name and Sheriff ID number. Legal mail still goes to the jail, marked privileged. Magazines and newspapers must come straight from the publisher, and books must come from Hamilton Books.

For calls, housing-unit phones run 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., booking phones run 24 hours, and accounts are set up through IC Solutions. To block an unwanted number, the jail asks that you contact the facility directly.

Requesting Madison County Booking Records

The phone line covers current custody, but it will not hand over an old booking sheet, an arrest report, or a historical record. Those come through a public-records request. Madison County runs a Public Records Center on the GovQA platform where you can submit and track a request, and the sheriff's document center lists a separate arrest-records request form. Be specific about what you want, such as the booking record, the arrest report, or the custody log, and include enough detail to identify the person and the date. One caution worth noting is that the portal warns the request itself can become a public record.

A few other channels round out the search. In person, the Sheriff's Office at 405 Randle Street is the county point of contact, though family and friend visits are not held onsite. For release alerts rather than a one-time check, VINELink offers custody and victim notification. The Madison County Sheriff's Office also publishes a mobile app, but its store listing advertises tips, reports, and public-safety news rather than an inmate roster, so it is a news channel, not a lookup tool.

Programs, Medical, and Mental Health Inside the Jail

Knowing what the jail provides helps when you are supporting someone inside. Medical and mental-health care runs through a contracted provider, Advanced Correctional Health, with requests made by tablet unless there is an emergency. A nurse request costs 10 dollars and a doctor request 20 dollars, charged to the detainee account, and only emergency dental, vision, and specialty care is provided. The 2024 state inspection documented medication-assisted treatment for addiction, a dedicated withdrawal cell block, weekly group therapy, and a Centerstone mental-health professional on site 40 hours a week.

On the education and reentry side, the jail offers a GED program through Lewis and Clark Community College, with detainees placed on a waiting list after a written request, plus Khan Academy free on tablets. Non-denominational church services run on Saturdays and Sundays by written request. The Sheriff's Work Alternative Program, which dates to 1991, gives some people an option to jail time. These details all come from the county's own pages and reports.

Commissary and Inmate Funds

Commissary runs through Keefe, where a detainee can buy approved food, clothing, and hygiene items. Money is added at the lobby kiosk during weekday business hours or online through Access Corrections. The jail takes no cash or money orders, and cash sent by mail is returned. A detainee account is capped at 1,500 dollars. Since 2022, undergarments and thermals must be bought through commissary rather than dropped off.