Posting Bond

Bond may be posted 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. Bond must be in the form of cash, cashiers check, or money order. Cashiers checks and money orders MUST be made payable as follows: "Clerk of the Court 18th Judicial District," and not to the incarcerated inmate. 

History

In 1868 a $20,000 two-story brick courthouse and jail was built on land donated by Wheaton resident Warren Wheaton. This building in downtown Wheaton served DuPage County until 1896.

In 1896 a new jail and sheriff's office was erected. The new jail was built to house 8 inmates but was soon expanded to house 48.

In the late 1940's the old jail was so inadequate deputies dug a basement in the building. Shortly thereafter planning began for a new jail and sheriff's office. That building, which cost $960,000, opened in 1959 and housed 85 inmates.

By the mid 1970's tremendous growth in the county's population made the 1959 jail space inadequate. In April of 1981, the County Board accepted a $14,059,000 bid to construct a new facility on County Farm Road in Wheaton. Construction of the three level, 310 bed jail and adjoining Sheriff's Office began in June 1981 and was dedicated in November 1983.

During the 1990's as DuPage's population continued to grow it was clear that additional jail space was needed. A 471 bed addition was built onto the existing jail and opened in 1995. With this addition, the total capacity of the jail is 825 beds.

Programs

Inmates are encouraged to participate in programs designed to reduce the rate of recidivism. These programs are provided by JUST (Justice, Understanding, Serving, Teaching) of DuPage, a non-profit agency started in 1986 to provide social service programs to inmates. All programs are funded by the inmates with no cost to taxpayers.

• Education - A G.E.D. program allows inmate to get their high school diploma and improves their chances to obtain a job. Between 30 and 50 inmates receive their G.E.D. each year. The College of DuPage also offers various college level courses to eligible inmates.

• Substance Abuse - An estimated 80 percent of inmates are involved with drugs or alcohol prior to incarceration. In an effort to eliminate drug related problems drug counseling and substance abuse classes, such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, are available.

• Chaplaincy - A full time staff chaplain and several volunteers provide a wide range of programming to meet the spiritual needs of the inmates. Inmates may attend worship services and bible study and can meet with the chaplain on an individual basis.

Jail Tours

For information on tours of the jail follow this link.