St. Clair County
Its jail, located in Belleville, has a capacity of 422.
St. Clair County has a population of 251,149 and is classified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as “Metro - Counties in metro areas of 1 million population or more”.
Annual inspections
Between 2017 and 2025, the St. Clair County jail has failed five of nine Illinois Department of Corrections inspections.
Inspectors cited violations to “Housing” and “Supervision” regulations most often, bringing it up , each in five of those failed inspections.
| Year | Result | Violations cited |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Noncompliant |
|
| 2024 | Noncompliant |
|
| 2023 | Noncompliant |
|
| 2022 | Noncompliant |
|
| 2021 | Noncompliant |
|
| 2020 | Compliant | — |
| 2019 | Compliant | — |
| 2018 | Compliant | — |
| 2017 | Compliant | — |
Each violation links to the standard it cites in the Illinois County Jail Standards. Years link to the full inspection report for that year on the IDOC website.
Extraordinary or unusual incidents
St. Clair County reported 573 extraordinary or unusual incidents at its jail between 2019 and 2025 — 22.8 per 10,000 residents, the 17th highest rate of the 92 Illinois counties with a jail.
Among the 36 metropolitan counties it is 10th; those counties report a median of 8.3. The median for every county with a jail is 7.
A county reporting less could indicate lower incident rates or lower reporting rates.
Incidents per 10,000 residents
St. Clair CountyMetropolitan counties Every other county with a jail
Most frequent categories
- Restraints used164
- Hospitalization63
- Fight among detainees45
- Suicide attempt38
- Taser used16
A single report can fall into more than one category.
Reported incidents by year
Deaths in custody
Between 2019 and 2025, 8 people died in custody of the St. Clair County sheriff. Of those, 4 were not counted in state oversight data.
Each death in the St. Clair County jail
Counted by the state Uncounted Additional details
No deaths in custody were identified at the St. Clair County jail.
Illinois Answers withheld the names of some of the deceased at the request of their families.
Data compiled 2026-09-15. Methodology.