Tazewell County Justice Center Overview
The Tazewell County Justice Center, often shortened to TCJC, is operated by the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office at 101 S. Capitol St., Pekin, IL 61554. It serves the county jail role for Tazewell County arrests, local warrants, county-sentence commitments, weekend sentences, courtesy holds, and detainees awaiting court action or release processing.
The sheriff's administrative command materials identify Sheriff Jeffrey Lower, Chief Deputy Timothy Gillespie, Jail Superintendent Mike Harper, and Deputy Jail Superintendent Dave Harper. That leadership structure matters because TCJC is not a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility and it is not an Illinois Department of Corrections prison. People in TCJC should be searched through the sheriff's current custody table, while federal inmates in Pekin are searched through BOP and sentenced state prisoners through IDOC.
Tazewell County Justice Center Capacity and Population
The 2025 PREA audit listed TCJC designated facility capacity as 225, with 10 housing units, an average daily population of 105 over the prior 12 months, and 105 people in custody on day one of the onsite audit. The Illinois Sheriffs' Association county profile separately lists 226 jail beds. Those figures are close, but they come from different sources, so both should be read with their source labels rather than merged into one number.
The sheriff custody table contained 116 rows when inspected on June 10, 2026. That was a point-in-time web-table count, not a certified average daily population, and it changes as people are booked, released, transferred, or moved to court-related status.
How to Look Up an Inmate at Tazewell County Justice Center
Use the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office custody lookup for current TCJC detainees. The public table exposes BookDate, BookTime, DetaineeID, LastName, FirstName, MiddleInit, Age, Race, Sex, Charge, and Agency. It does not show a mugshot column, bond amount, housing unit, court date, case number, or a full profile page in the accessible source.
The sheriff's custody lookup screenshot shows the official current-custody table used for TCJC searches: open the custody lookup source.
Because the table is a filterable roster rather than a full booking-profile system, the DetaineeID and visible charge label are useful identifiers when calling the jail or checking later court records.
- Open the sheriff custody lookup for current Tazewell County detainees.
- Search by last name first, then narrow by first name, DetaineeID, booking date, charge word, or agency if needed.
- Confirm that the row is a TCJC custody record and not an active warrant-only entry or a federal BOP record.
- Use the Tyler court portal or the jail phone line when court dates, bond terms, or fuller case history are needed.
Tazewell County Justice Center Address and Contact
For custody status that is not clear online, the sheriff's published contact block gives the main phone as 309-477-2250 and dispatch as 309-346-4141. The Justice Center and Sheriff's Office share the downtown Pekin address below.
Tazewell County Justice Center
101 S. Capitol St.
Pekin, IL 61554
309-477-2250
Dispatch: 309-346-4141
Visiting Someone at Tazewell County Justice Center
TCJC visits are video visits scheduled through Cidnet, not by calling the facility to reserve a slot. The sheriff's visitation page says visits must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance, the visiting week starts each Sunday, visits are monitored and recorded, and a typical visit lasts about 20 minutes. Visitors must be registered, minors must be with a parent or legal guardian, and visitors need a valid driver's license or state ID, with school ID allowed for minors.
The sheriff's Cidnet visitation page is the source for the current scheduling rules: review the detainee visitation instructions.
The schedule below is not walk-in public visitation. Each time block still depends on Cidnet registration, availability, and advance scheduling.
| Day | Hours | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday-Saturday | 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. | Video by Cidnet |
| Sunday-Saturday | 1:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. | Video by Cidnet |
| Sunday-Saturday | 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. | Video by Cidnet |
Mail, Phone, and Money at Tazewell County Justice Center
TCJC changed routine non-legal postal mail on June 23, 2025. Ordinary mail is digitally delivered through an offsite Phoenix, Maryland address and accessed by detainees through kiosks or tablets. Do not send routine non-legal letters to the jail's physical Capitol Street address. The sheriff's mail rules also say improperly addressed mail is rejected and discarded without exception, and that legal mail, money orders, checks, gift cards, or cash sent through the digital-mail stream are returned to sender.
The sheriff's jail information page shows the deposit, mail, phone, medical, and commissary instructions for TCJC: open the jail information source.
Those rules are county-jail rules only. They should not be used for FCI Pekin, IDOC prisons, or ICE custody.
| Service | Provider / Detail |
|---|---|
| Non-legal mail | Inmate's full name, Inmate ID; Tazewell County Justice Center, Illinois; P.O. Box 247; Phoenix, MD 21131 |
| Phone / video / messages | Cidnet account and data services |
| Money deposit | Lobby kiosk, Smart Deposit online, or phone deposits at 1-866-394-0490 Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. ET |
| Commissary | Held Wednesday; money must be deposited before 9:00 p.m. Sunday for that weekly cycle |
Booking and Intake at Tazewell County Justice Center
TCJC receives people arrested by the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office and local agencies such as Pekin, East Peoria, Morton, Mackinaw, Tremont, and Illinois State Police when those agencies appear in the custody table. A custody row can reflect an arrest, warrant, hold, courtesy hold, or county commitment; it is not proof of conviction. Court dates, case numbers, dispositions, and formal docket activity belong in the Tazewell County court system rather than in the jail table.
Bond and detainee-fund transactions are separate. Bond may involve a jail clerk or Court Money instructions, while commissary funds use Smart Deposit, the lobby kiosk, or phone deposit channels. A person can also leave TCJC for IDOC after a state sentence, BOP after federal designation, another agency hold, or release under court conditions.
About Tazewell County Justice Center
Recent official facility context includes the July 8, 2025 IDOC Jail and Detention Standards Unit review. The sheriff-posted summary says the inspection found no noncompliances and noted improvements since the prior monitoring cycle, including a new phone system, new food carts, a new book cart, and new uniforms and towels.
The 2025 compliance review page is the source for the no-noncompliance finding: read the sheriff-posted compliance review.
The review is a county-jail monitoring item, not a BOP or IDOC prison inspection. It belongs with TCJC conditions and compliance information.
Note: Confirm custody status, Cidnet availability, and mail rules with TCJC before traveling or sending time-sensitive items.