Correctional Officers

     The Mason County Detention Facility at 102 W. Market, Havana, Illinois replaced the old county jail in 1989. The Detention Center is not only comprised of the cellblock which holds an average forty inmate population, but also includes the Sheriff's Office, Mason County Emergency Services Disaster Agency (E.S.D.A.), and Mason County's primary dispatch center. While the Detention Center may appear quiet on the outside,a different story is unfolding behind it's walls. With over eight hundred bookings a year, the Detention Center is generally a bee hive of activity.

     The Mason County Detention Facility's inmate population continually changes. Practically each day, someone new is taken into custody. Some of the accused are able to post bond to facilitate their release while those, who are not able to secure their bond, remain incarcerated and wait through the judicial process to answer to the charges filed against them. Some inmates serve sentences after pleading guilty by a judge or jury. Inmates, who you see mowing the courthouse lawn, raking leaves or working in the community, have pled or been found guilty of a crime and were ordered to serve sentences of less than a year. Any person who has been convicted of a felony and is given a sentence of at least one year or more is transported to a state penitentiary.

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