If you want to send pictures to inmates at the Cook County Jail or, as it is officially known, the Cook County Department of Corrections (CCDOC) in Chicago, IL, Inmate Photos can help. We have the rules, the information, and we know what it takes to get pictures to your loved one.
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The Cook County Department of Corrections is the third-largest one-campus jail in the nation, with Los Angeles County Jail and New York City’s Rikers Island being bigger. The entire Chicago complex spans 96 acres, about eight city blocks. On average, the jail has 6,100 inmates every day. The complex processes 100,000 people every year.
The entire facility has 10 divisions and four Sheriff’s Department offices. The current site opened in 1871 as the city jail. Over the years, it was expanded, and other facilities were merged into it.
The jail, or versions of it, has appeared in movies, musicals, and more. Blues legend BB King recorded part of the album Live in Cook County Jail at the jail.
The complex is just a few miles west of Lake Michigan and less than a mile north of Interstate 55. It is on the west side of the Heart of Chicago neighborhood and just south of Marshall Square. It is less than half a mile north of the Illinois River.
The main address is:
2700 South California Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60608
The jail houses men and women in different units.
The Cook County Department of Corrections has several divisions or units where inmates are housed. They are:
Division II – This unit holds 870 men in a dorm-style setting. It has four three-story buildings classified as minimum or medium security. One building is the men’s medical and psychiatric center.
Division IV – This unit was converted into the women’s section. It holds 704 inmates in a two-story, 16-wing building. It holds all security-level inmates.
Division VI – With a capacity of 992 men, this unit is a two-story building with 24 wings. It is for minimum and medium security.
Division IX – The facility’s super-maximum security unit holds 1,056 men. Men in protective custody are also kept here. It is two connected three-story buildings.
Division X – This is the medical and “acute psych” facility holding inmates of all security classifications. Acute psych is defined as “dose-by-dose” inmates.
Division XI – Four housing pods can house 1,536 men in a medium-security setting. This is also the most technologically advanced of the divisions.
Divisions I, III, and III Annex are closed at this time.
Boot Camp – The CCDC Boot Camp is a different facility with a different address.
The Cook County Sheriff sets the rules for the jail because this is a county facility. The rules apply to each division or unit. The sheriff has posted a list of prohibited items on the jail’s website.
If you send something that is not allowed, your entire package will be sent back with an explanation of why the envelope was returned to you. If you keep sending prohibited items, your loved one could face in-jail punishment. The matter might be referred to the Cook County District Attorney to investigate charges against you depending on what is sent.
The CCDC has rules for inmates and pictures. You can send pictures to a person in the jail if you follow the rules. A few of these rules are:
The sheriff said the list is only a guide. The prison staff can review any item at any time to decide if it should be prohibited. All inmate mail is opened and inspected by the prison staff to ensure there is no contraband.
To mail pictures, you need the inmate’s name and booking number. You can find the booking number by visiting the locator webpage.
All pictures should be mailed in an envelope addressed as follows:
Inmate’s Name
Booking #
2700 S. California Ave.
Chicago, IL 60608
All the Cook County jail units use this mailing address.
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