Check ICE Custody Releases

McDonough to ICE Transfers

A discharge from McDonough County Jail to ICE is a transfer, not release to the community. The county jail may record a discharge or transfer date because the person has left its control. That local timestamp says nothing by itself about freedom from federal immigration custody. Ask who received the person and preserve the exact destination or agency label in the record.

No evidence established that McDonough County operates an ICE detention center or has a county ICE detention contract. The ICE route is conditional. It applies only when the sheriff record, court file, federal document, or another reliable source indicates immigration custody. Do not send every missing county-jail name to an immigration locator.

Confirm an ICE Custody Handoff

Start at the last verified custodian. If the person was booked at McDonough County Jail, the sheriff owns the physical discharge or transfer entry. An arresting agency may have an incident report, yet it may not know about a later immigration hold. A court order may explain the local case without resolving federal custody.

1. Call McDonough County Jail at 309-833-5245 and ask whether its record says discharged or transferred.
2. Request the effective date and time, recorded receiving authority, and court-order or hold reference when maintained.
3. If the entry names ICE, search the person through the official ICE Online Detainee Locator using the most exact identifiers available.
4. If no result appears, check spelling and required fields, consider the locator's time and age limits, and contact the ICE information line.
5. Keep the county entry, locator date, agency response, and any immigration case information separate. Together they show the sequence better than any one source.

The broader McDonough County released inmate search distinguishes county, state, federal criminal, and immigration populations. Never treat an ICE no-result as proof that a transfer did not occur.

Search ICE Detainee Records

The ICE Online Detainee Locator System, often called ODLS, searches current ICE custody and certain recent releases. ICE attorney resources also describe coverage for CBP custody lasting longer than 48 hours. It is not a county roster, a criminal court database, or a complete historical immigration archive.

The strongest search uses an A-number and country of birth. An A-number is the federal immigration identification number. ODLS requires nine digits, so add leading zeroes when the printed number has fewer digits. Country of birth must match the system record. Do not substitute current residence or citizenship unless it is also the recorded birth country.

A biographical search requires exact first name, last name, and country of birth. Date of birth can help refine the result. Hyphens, spaces, multiple surnames, transliteration, order, and spelling can affect matching. Try the exact form shown on immigration paperwork. Do not assume that a common nickname or approximate spelling will return the record.

ICE Locator Release Scope

ICE's attorney resources state that ODLS includes people released from ICE custody within the last 60 days. That is a bounded recent period, not indefinite history. After the window closes, absence cannot disprove an earlier transfer or release. Retain the county jail entry and immigration case records because those sources may persist on a different schedule.

The public locator excludes children under 18. A no-result for a minor is therefore expected and must not be interpreted as proof of no immigration custody. Use the appropriate agency, guardian, attorney, or case channel instead of trying to work around the exclusion.

ODLS also has exact-match sensitivity and can lag behind a move or status change. A result identifies the ICE custody information provided by that federal system. It does not explain the McDonough criminal case, county release authority, or every later immigration proceeding. The county entry remains the best source for the local handoff time.

Current custody

ICE presently reports the person within the locator's covered custody.

Recent release

A release from ICE custody within the locator's stated recent window.

Transfer

A move between custodians or locations, not freedom by itself.

No result

An inconclusive outcome that may reflect scope, age, timing, or identity fields.

ICE Detainee Information Contact

When ODLS does not resolve the question, use the ICE Detention Reporting and Information Line. This channel can address covered detention questions and help route concerns. Have the A-number, full legal name, country of birth, date of birth, and the last known facility or transfer date ready when available.

The line is commonly shortened to DRIL. Its published hours matter when calling from Illinois. Do not invent a local ICE phone number or assume the McDonough jail can manage an ICE locator record. County staff can address the county entry. ICE addresses the federal immigration custody stage.

Request the County Transfer Entry

If the jail cannot disclose the handoff by phone, request the existing record in writing. Address it to FOIA Officer Bailey Rauch, McDonough County Sheriff's Office, 110 S. McArthur St., Macomb, IL 61455, or send it to brauch@sheriff.mcdonough.il.us. The sheriff main line is 309-833-2323, and the general email is sheriff@sheriff.mcdonough.il.us.

Give the full name, approximate booking date, and case or booking number if known. Ask for the jail-register entry, booking sheet, discharge or transfer record, effective date and time, release reason or type, releasing authority, order reference, and receiving agency or destination exactly as recorded. Ask for electronic copies and request that nonexempt portions be separated if another portion is withheld.

Under Illinois FOIA, a public body normally responds within five business days and may use a written extension of up to five more business days for statutory reasons. The first 50 ordinary black-and-white pages are free, then later pages cost no more than $0.15 each. No special McDonough immigration-transfer record fee was found. The county response does not replace an ICE record; it establishes the local endpoint and federal handoff.

Court and Immigration Records

The McDonough County Circuit Clerk file can explain the local charge, dismissal, sentence, release conditions, or order affecting county custody. The office is at #1 Courthouse Square, Macomb, IL 61455. It is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and the all-court-matters number is 309-837-4889. The Ninth Judicial Circuit location page supplies another local route. Obtain the entered order, not just a daily docket listing.

A local dismissal or pretrial release order resolves only that McDonough matter. It does not prove the absence of an immigration detainer or another case. Likewise, an ICE transfer does not state how the county criminal case ended. Keep the court and custody records in their own lanes.

Immigration proceedings use federal records and may involve facts outside the county file. ODLS shows bounded custody information, not the full legal case. For case-specific legal interpretation, use the official immigration case channel or qualified legal counsel. Do not infer legal status from a jail transfer label alone.

ICE Versus Federal Criminal Custody

ICE civil immigration custody is not the same system as USMS pretrial custody or BOP imprisonment after federal conviction. A local jail can hold a federal criminal prisoner for USMS, and the person can leave McDonough while remaining in federal criminal custody. In that path, the federal docket and holding facility lead the search, followed by BOP after commitment.

BOP's locator can show “Released” or “Not in BOP Custody,” but those labels are bounded to BOP. They do not prove release from ICE, USMS, state, or county authority. Conversely, ODLS does not search ordinary BOP prisoners. Follow the receiving agency named by the McDonough record rather than choosing a federal locator based only on the word “federal.”

McDonough ICE Limits

No verified ICE detention facility lies in McDonough County, and no county ICE detention contract was established by the research. No standard ICE pickup location, local transfer schedule, family waiting area, transport route, or release practice was found. Those details must not be borrowed from another county or inferred from the county jail's location.

The 2024 jail inspection says McDonough County Jail holds for other jurisdictions, so an outside-custodian transfer is a real local possibility. It does not identify an ICE contract. Ask for the actual receiving-authority field. A generic reference to “another jurisdiction” needs a focused follow-up before anyone labels it an immigration transfer.

Record dates matter. Note when the county released or transferred the person, when ODLS was searched, and when DRIL was contacted. A county entry can remain valid even after the 60-day ODLS release window expires. Together, dated sources prevent a present no-result from erasing a documented prior handoff.