Mason County Jail Release Paths
Mason County Jail is a county jail operated by the Mason County Sheriff's Office. It holds local detainees and has also performed documented holding functions for Cass County and federal authorities. Release from this building means the person left Mason's physical custody. It does not by itself mean the person entered the community.
A local release can follow a court order, dismissal, sentence of time served, or completion of a county term. Other movements include transfer to the Illinois Department of Corrections, another county, USMS or federal custody, a hospital, or another authorized destination. Ask the jail for the release authority and destination. Those two fields prevent a transfer from being misreported as freedom from custody.
| Movement | Next record |
|---|---|
| Community release | Mason release entry and court order |
| IDOC transfer | Mason destination entry and IDOC profile |
| Another county | Mason transfer record and receiving jail |
| USMS or federal custody | Federal docket, Mason entry, then BOP if committed |
| Other authorized destination | Named receiving authority |
Confirm a Mason County Jail Release
Begin with identifying details, not a broad roster search. The official review found no Mason online roster archive or recent-release feed as of July 16, 2026. Third-party lists are leads only. They may lag, miss a spelling, or remove a person after transfer.
- Gather the full name, date of birth, aliases, approximate booking date, and case or booking number.
- Call Mason County Jail at 309-543-2231 and ask whether the person remains in custody or was released or transferred.
- Request the date, time, authority, release or disposition code, and destination agency.
- Read the Mason court docket for the order, disposition, sentence, or mittimus connected to the movement.
- Check the named receiving system, such as IDOC, another county, or federal court records.
The full Mason County released inmate search describes the county, state, notification, court, and federal channels in context. Use the jail route first for a person whose last known location was this facility.
Mason County Jail Records Contact
The Sheriff's Office contact is the primary path because no dedicated online release-record form was found. A focused written request creates a record of exactly what was sought. Ask for public and reasonably segregable portions if another part of the file is withheld.
Mason County Jail102 W. Market Street
Havana, IL 62644
Phone: 309-543-2231
Agency: Mason County Sheriff's Office
The Mason County contact directory is the official local source for the sheriff contact. The Illinois Sheriffs' Association Mason entry also identifies the jail administrator, address, telephone, and a 42-bed listing. Neither source publishes a recent-release archive.
No research source established a Mason-specific release-record fee, request form, or office-hour schedule. Do not invent one. State the date range and ask the office to identify any applicable charge before copies are made.
Mason County Jail Release Fields
Illinois FOIA arrest-report provisions include the time and date a person was received, discharged, or transferred from an arresting agency's custody. A useful request goes beyond “was this person released?” It asks for enough fields to separate physical discharge, legal authority, and the next custodian.
| Requested field | Reason |
|---|---|
| Name and booking number | Matches the correct jail stay |
| Receipt and release times | Defines the custody interval |
| Authority or disposition code | Explains why Mason acted |
| Destination agency | Distinguishes transfer from community release |
| Commitment information | Connects the jail entry to the case |
The court order time can precede the jail's actual processing time. A receiving agency may post admission later. Keep each timestamp under its original label instead of selecting the earliest one or blending them.
Mason County Jail Property Receipt
The 2023 IDOC jail inspection checklist verifies that inventoried property is returned at release and that the signed, itemized property receipt is retained permanently. This is a distinctive and concrete follow-up record. A person questioning which items were returned can request that receipt by name, booking, and release date.
Permanent retention applies to the signed property receipt identified by the inspection. It should not be stretched into a claim that every booking, medical, or jail record is permanent. Ask the Sheriff's Office which retention rule applies to each other item.
Mason County Jail Capacity Record
The 2023 IDOC inspection dates construction to 1989 and reports a rated capacity of 44, divided into 40 male and four female spaces. The Illinois Sheriffs' Association lists 42 beds. These are two differently stated official figures, so the state inspection's 44 is the technical capacity while the association's 42 remains noted rather than erased.
No IDOC prison, federal prison, or Illinois county juvenile detention center was found physically inside Mason County. The jail's work for other authorities does not change its classification as a county jail.
Mason Jail Modernization History
The 2020 IDOC inspection records a new computer-aided dispatch system and jail management system. It also describes expanded video and federal functions. Those details show modernization in a small facility and help explain why custody information can touch local and federal processes.
Use Illinois state inspection records for this local history. Search results for Mason County facilities in other states, especially Michigan, are not interchangeable. Confirm that every address, inspection, and agency reference points to Havana, Illinois.
Federal Holding at Mason Jail
Federal video arraignment is documented in the inspections, and September 2024 county minutes report that the jail passed a federal inspection. The 2020 record also mentions Cass County holding. A person received by USMS can disappear from a local list without entering BOP prison custody at once.
USMS has no public name locator equivalent to BOP. Ask Mason which agency received the person, then check the federal court docket. If the person is later committed to federal prison, the BOP locator becomes the appropriate public search. A past release date with released or no-location language addresses BOP custody only.
Nothing in the researched federal functions proves an ICE contract. Do not describe a person as an immigration detainee based solely on Mason's federal role. Immigration custody requires a Mason destination entry or a supporting ICE record.
Mason Release Court Verification
The Mason County Circuit Clerk links to the county's Judici court records. Search the criminal case for pretrial release or detention orders, dismissal, plea, sentence, jail credit, probation, mittimus, or later revocation. Call the clerk at 309-543-6619 option 2 when the official document is not visible online.
A docket explains legal authority, while the jail release entry records physical processing. Both can be right even when their times differ. A pending case can remain active after a person leaves custody. Likewise, a VINE release notice does not mean the case has ended.
Mason Transfers to Illinois Corrections
A Mason defendant sentenced to state prison should have a county transfer entry naming IDOC or a receiving point. That movement was not community release. Search the IDOC Individuals in Custody system by IDOC number when possible, or use last name or birthdate.
Read Offender Status and Location with the dates. “PAROLE” and a parole-district location support release from prison under supervision. Projected Parole Date is an estimate, while Parole Date records an actual state custodial exit. Projected Discharge Date concerns the expected end of legal custody and may be later or undetermined. None of these state fields replaces Mason's own transfer timestamp.
Correcting Mason Release Records
If staff cannot locate the entry, confirm that the request names Mason County, Illinois. Supply alternate spellings, aliases, date of birth, approximate arrest date, case number, and arresting agency. Ask whether the person was held for Cass County or USMS and whether another spelling appears in the jail management system.
If material is denied or redacted, ask for the specific FOIA exemption, its factual basis, and all reasonably segregable fields. Preserve the written response. A denial does not make a commercial roster or mugshot page authoritative. For an IDOC conflict, save the profile URL, IDOC number, displayed fields, access date, and the official document that differs, then seek written state verification.
Release confirmation is strongest when the sources perform separate jobs: Mason supplies the physical movement, the court supplies legal authority, and the destination agency supplies the next custody status.