Find Someone in the Massac County Jail

Massac County Jail Roster Overview

The Massac County Sheriff's Office runs the county jail and controls its inmate records. Unlike many counties, it does not post a browser-based roster you can search by last name. The official inmate listing page instead tells the public to download the Massac County Sheriff app for current inmate information, and the sheriff's home page says the app carries jail information along with current inmate information. So the county jail roster lives mostly in the app and on the jail phone line, not on a public web search box.

The county roster also has limits worth knowing up front. It covers people held in the local jail right now. It does not cover people sentenced to state prison, people in federal custody, or people held by immigration authorities. Each of those groups has its own locator, and the right one depends on which system holds the person. Court charges are tracked separately too, through the circuit clerk and the public case-search site.

How to Use the Massac County Inmate Roster

The official route starts on the sheriff's inmate listing page, then moves to the app. The Google Play and Apple listings both carry the Massac County Sheriff app, which is free. The steps below follow the channel the sheriff actually publishes.

1. Open the sheriff's inmate listing page to confirm the official app links.
2. Download the Massac County Sheriff app from Google Play or the Apple App Store.
3. Open the jail or current inmate information feature and search by the person's name.
4. If the person is not shown or the result looks stale, call the jail at 618-524-2912 to confirm.

The Google Play listing shows the same app the sheriff points to, with its developer, update date, and feature list.

The Google Play page above and the Apple App Store page are the two official places to install the app that holds the inmate feature.

Massac County Roster Search Fields

Counties with a web roster usually list the fields you can search, such as last name and booking number. Massac County does not expose those fields on its website, because the search happens inside the app. The table below records what the official pages actually document, so no field is invented.

Because the field list and update speed are not published, treat an app result as a starting point rather than the final word. Note: right after an arrest, a phone call to the jail is more reliable than the app, since the app's refresh timing is not stated by the sheriff.

What a Massac County Inmate Profile Shows

The sheriff's public pages do not display a sample inmate profile, so the fields below describe what a booking record usually holds. State jail standards require the jail to keep booking and personal records for each detainee, and the 2024 inspection noted the jail had added a live-scan fingerprint machine and a modern jail management system. That supports a full internal record even when the public app view is limited.

Do not assume the app shows every field above. The sheriff confirms current inmate information is in the app but does not list its exact contents. For booking photos, the jail roster mugshots page covers what is and is not public.

What to Do If the App Does Not Show the Massac County Inmate

The app is the sheriff's channel for current inmate information, but it will not fit every situation. When a result is missing, stale, or hard to read, the right backup depends on how recent the arrest is and which agency holds the person. The scenarios below match the gaps the official pages leave open.

• Arrested in the last few hours: the app's update timing is not published, so call the jail line at 618-524-2912.
• Arrested weeks or months ago: the app focuses on current custody, so check the court case or request the booking record.
• No smartphone: skip the app and use the jail phone line or visit the sheriff's office in person.
• Held for Johnson or Pope County: the Massac jail may hold the person while the court case stays in the home county.
• Possibly released or transferred: call the jail or sign up with Illinois VINE for a status alert.

None of these steps require a paid service. They use the same official channels the sheriff and the state already run, just in the order that fits the question. When in doubt about a recent arrest, the phone line beats the app every time.

Finding County, State, and Federal Inmates

The county roster is only one of four systems. Each holds a different group, and searching the wrong one wastes time. Pretrial and short-sentence detainees sit in the county jail. Sentenced felons move to the state corrections system. Federal prisoners and immigration detainees use their own national locators. The table sorts which system to search.

For a sentenced prisoner, use the IDOC Individual in Custody Search. For federal custody, the Federal Bureau of Prisons locator searches by name or register number, and the federal locator interface is shown below.

The BOP locator pictured here returns a register number, basic demographics, and a release date, which is different from the county jail's current-custody view. Immigration detainees are found through the ICE Online Detainee Locator, which searches by A-number and country of birth or by name and birthdate.

Massac County Jail Facility

Massac County operates one detention facility, the Massac County Detention Center in Metropolis. It holds local pretrial and short-sentence detainees plus contract holds for Johnson and Pope counties. The contact card below has the working jail address and phone, and the facility page covers visitation and lookup in full.

Booking Process in Massac County

A person arrested by the sheriff, Metropolis police, or state police is brought to the Massac County Detention Center when lodging is needed. Sheriff arrest reports often use the phrase lodged at the Massac County Detention Center. At intake the staff check the legal basis for custody, verify identity, search the person, take property for safekeeping, and fingerprint and photograph the person under current law. The jail added a live-scan fingerprint machine before the 2024 inspection.

After intake comes a medical and mental-health screening, an admitting shower, and clean clothing and bedding, then classification and a housing assignment. Under Illinois law, money bail was ended for new cases, so a judge sets pretrial release conditions or orders detention rather than a cash bail amount. The timing of when a new booking shows in the app was not published, which is one more reason to call the jail for a very recent arrest.

Visitation Hours and Rules

The sheriff's jail page sets a fixed in-person schedule. Visits are held on Sundays and Wednesdays, split by sex, and each visit is short. The schedule below follows the sheriff's posted rules. Female detainees visit from noon to 1 p.m., and male detainees visit from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Each visit is one 15-minute session with one visitor at a time. A visitor under 17 must come with an adult. Visitors sign the log, show a picture ID, and bring no electronics or personal items. Contact visits are not allowed, and people on probation or parole, or anyone held in the jail within the last six months, cannot visit. For remote contact, the sheriff's inmate listing page points to InmateSales for video visits.

How to Contact a Massac County Inmate

Mail is allowed, with rules. The sheriff's jail page says letters may be written to an inmate, every letter needs a return address, and the envelope can hold only letters and photos. Address mail to the inmate's name, then Massac County Detention Center, 515 Market St., Metropolis, IL 62960. Prescription medication can be accepted only in an authorized bottle prescribed to that inmate with a valid date.

For phone and video, the 2024 inspection names Combined Public Communications as the provider of telephone, texting, and video visit services, while the sheriff's inmate listing page sends video visitors to InmateSales. Inmates make calls from their cells and buy phone cards from the commissary, and a lobby kiosk handles phone cards too. Families should set up the right vendor account before expecting a call or video visit.

Commissary, Funds, and Records Requests

Money for an inmate's commissary account can be dropped at the jail with cash through the Stellar kiosk, and the 2024 inspection names Stellar Services as the commissary provider. The sheriff's home page also links JailATM for commissary deposits and bond posting. Posted vendor fees were not found, so confirm any charge in the kiosk or vendor screen before paying.

When the app does not answer a question, the access chain is wider than the roster alone. Call the jail line at 618-524-2912 for current custody, recent bookings, or release questions. Use the state IDOC locator after sentencing, the federal BOP locator or ICE locator for federal and immigration custody, and Illinois VINE for release and status alerts. The VINE portal is shown below.

VINE, pictured above, sends alerts when custody or case status changes, which helps families who cannot keep checking the app or calling the jail. For an older booking record or booking photo not in the app, file a written request to the sheriff under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, 5 ILCS 140.