Search Knox County Jail Inmates

Knox County Jail Overview

Knox County Jail sits at 152 South Kellogg Street in Galesburg as part of the Knox County Law Enforcement Center, and it is operated by the Knox County Sheriff's Office under Sheriff Jack C. Harlan Jr. The facility was built in 2002 and holds adults in local custody. Its population is a mix of pre-trial detainees, people serving short county sentences, and detainees held for the U.S. Marshals Service and neighboring jurisdictions, so not everyone inside is a Knox County defendant.

The state's 2024 compliance report lists the jail's rated capacity at 128 beds, split into 117 for men and 11 for women, arranged across 96 single and 16 double detention rooms. Medical and mental-health care was provided by Advanced Correctional Healthcare, meals by Consolidated Food Services, and phone and commissary services by TurnKey Corrections, with the public directed to Inmate Canteen for accounts.

Knox County Jail Capacity and Population

The clearest population figures come from the Illinois Department of Corrections annual compliance report. On the March 27, 2024 inspection, the jail held 44 people, 38 men and 6 women, against its 128 rated beds, roughly a third full that day. The figure is a single-day snapshot rather than an annual average, and the prior year's inspection counted 83 people, so the number moves with arrests and case timing.

A low total does not always mean empty beds in every category. In the prior year's report, the female count of 14 was higher than the listed female capacity of 11, even though the total population stayed below the total bed count. That is a useful reminder that a jail can be tight in one housing classification while the overall number looks comfortable, which is why classification capacity matters as much as the headline figure.

Who Is Held at Knox County Jail

The jail's population is not one single group, and that matters for any search. Most people held there are local cases, either waiting for trial or serving a short county sentence. Alongside them, the state inspection confirms that the jail houses detainees for the U.S. Marshals Service and for neighboring jurisdictions under contract. A federal detainee may have local custody logistics but a federal court case, and a neighboring-county detainee may have court events in another county entirely.

That mix explains a common dead end. A family member searching only Knox County court records may not find a case for a person who is physically in the jail on a federal or out-of-county hold. When the local roster and local court record both come up empty, the federal or neighboring-jurisdiction angle is worth checking.

How to Look Up an Inmate at Knox County Jail

Because Knox County Jail is a local jail, the lookup uses the county roster, which the sheriff publishes through the official Knox County Sheriff Illinois app. The app installs from the official store links and a QR code on the sheriff's app page. The public website does not expose a web roster table, so the app is the documented route, with the jail phone as a backup.

The sheriff's app page is the official place to download the roster app.

The Knox County Sheriff app page links the official roster app for Android and iPhone.

After installing the app, the search runs from there, and the steps below cover the basic lookup and the fallback for a sentenced person.

1. Open the sheriff's app page and install the Knox County Sheriff Illinois app.
2. Search by the person's last name and confirm the spelling.
3. If the arrest was recent and nothing shows, call the jail at 309-345-3737 to confirm custody.
4. If the person was sentenced to prison, search the state locator instead, as covered on the jail inmate records page.

Knox County Jail Address and Contact

The jail shares its address with the Sheriff's Office, and several phone lines serve different needs. The jail line handles custody questions within strict limits, the 24-hour dispatch number covers after-hours contact, and the administrative office takes records and general calls on weekdays.

Directions and Visitor Planning

The jail sits in downtown Galesburg on South Kellogg Street, a few blocks from the Knox County Courthouse at 200 South Cherry Street, so court visitors should not aim for the jail address by mistake. The sheriff's official pages do not publish highway-by-highway directions, so confirm the final turns with a map app, and check road conditions in severe winter weather. Visitor parking details for the jail are not published in official sources, so confirm where to park before arriving.

For a bond, the FAQ directs people to the intercom at the window in the foyer just inside the main entrance of the Sheriff's Office, not the secretary in the lobby. Communication services require an Inmate Canteen account set up in advance, so it helps to handle the account before a planned visit rather than at the door.

Visiting Someone at Knox County Jail

The current jail page does not publish a fixed day-by-day visitation schedule, and an older FAQ that listed set hours is marked outdated. Rather than rely on obsolete times, set up the communication account first, then confirm the current visit window through the app or by calling the jail. The table lists the documented channels and how each is reached.

Mail, Phone, and Money at Knox County Jail

Knox County Jail has detailed mail and money rules, and following them avoids returned items. Letters, postcards, and greeting cards are allowed with the sender's full name and return address, but packages, oversized items, and anything tucked inside a card are not. Paperback books are allowed only when sent directly from Amazon, and magazines and newspapers are not accepted. The only items that may be dropped off are prescription eyeglasses and prescription medication.

Money for an account is added by cash or card at the lobby kiosk or online, never handed to staff or mailed in. For a bond that exists in a case, the jail accepts payment around the clock and links an online option through CourtMoney once the amount is confirmed.

Booking and Records at Knox County Jail

Intake at the jail follows state jail standards. Staff verify identity and the legal basis for the hold, run a search and property inventory, take fingerprints and a booking photo, and complete a medical and mental-health screening before classification and housing. A new booking does not appear instantly, and the sheriff does not publish how soon it shows in the app, so a missing result right after an arrest is not proof of release.

For a copy of a booking record or arrest report, a public-records request is the route, since those documents are not handed out over the phone.

The Knox County JustFOIA portal accepts records requests for jail and booking material online.

A request works best when it names the person, the booking date, the arresting agency, and the exact record wanted, such as a booking sheet or custody times.

About Knox County Jail

The jail is one part of a larger rural-county sheriff operation that serves more than 55,000 residents across 720 square miles. The 2024 state inspection noted recent improvements, including new mattresses, added staff, peer-support groups, chaplain visits, dayroom recreation, new televisions, holiday programs, body cameras in the facility, a new fingerprint machine, and a new records management system. The same report listed two areas of noncompliance, a commissary fund audit and supervision documentation, with observation checks at about 98 percent. For safety concerns in custody, the jail provides a PREA reporting line at 309-345-6791.

The official app store listing for the sheriff's app confirms the facility's public communication tools.

The Apple App Store listing shows the official Knox County Sheriff Illinois app.

Once a person is sentenced to prison, they leave the jail and move into state custody at a facility such as Hill Correctional Center, where the lookup shifts to the state locator.