Southwestern Illinois Work Camp IDOC Search

Southwestern Illinois Work Camp Overview

Southwestern Illinois Work Camp is operated by the Illinois Department of Corrections at 950 Kingshighway Street, East St. Louis, IL 62203. It opened in August 1995 and functions as the work-camp facility under Southwestern Illinois Correctional Center. The facility type is state custody, so it should not be described as a county work-release annex or a St. Clair County Jail unit.

IDOC identifies the work camp as minimum security for adult males. Its mission is to provide community service to government and nonprofit groups within a 45-mile radius of the institution. Participants also take part in the Correctional Recovery Program, including substance-abuse treatment groups five days per week for a minimum of 15 hours per week. The work camp consists of one building totaling 10,038 square feet inside the SWICC perimeter, with health care, educational, and dietary services provided through the parent institution.

The work camp is listed separately because IDOC publishes separate facility information, capacity, population, mission, and visitation rules. It still shares the same East St. Louis address and phone number as SWICC. For search purposes, IDOC is the governing record system, while the county jail roster remains the correct path only for local jail custody in Belleville.

Southwestern Illinois Work Camp Capacity and Population

IDOC lists Southwestern Illinois Work Camp with an operational capacity of 100 and a population of 0 as of June 30, 2024. That zero population figure should be preserved with the date, but it should not be treated as a closure statement because IDOC continues to publish the facility page with capacity, mission, visitation, and program information. The facility remains part of the SWICC institutional setting in the official source set.

The work camp's population figure is separate from SWICC's main population and separate from the St. Clair County Jail count. A person assigned to the work camp should be searchable through IDOC by name, IDOC number, or birthdate. If the IDOC locator does not list the work camp as the current location, rely on the current IDOC location rather than the historical or parent-facility relationship.

How to Look Up an Inmate at Southwestern Illinois Work Camp

Use the IDOC Individual in Custody Search for Southwestern Illinois Work Camp. The work camp is not covered by the St. Clair County Jail current-inmate portal because it is an IDOC facility for sentenced state custody. IDOC search results can identify the person's IDOC number, name, birthdate, parent institution, offender status, current location, photo fields when available, physical profile, admission date, parole or discharge projections, sentencing information, and VINELink registration access.

1. Open the official IDOC Individual in Custody Search.
2. Choose Last Name, IDOC Number, or Birthdate as the search method.
3. Enter the search value in the single IDOC search field and run the search.
4. Open the matching profile and check the parent institution, status, and location.
5. Confirm that Southwestern Illinois Work Camp or its parent SWICC placement is current before arranging visits, mail, phone contact, or deposits.

If the person was arrested recently in St. Clair County, start with the county jail roster instead. If the person was federally sentenced, use the BOP locator. If immigration custody is the issue, use ICE ODLS. The work camp custody path is for IDOC records only.

Southwestern Illinois Work Camp Address and Contact

The work camp uses the same street address and public phone number as Southwestern Illinois Correctional Center. Mail should include the person's name and IDOC number, because IDOC routes mail by individual custody identity and facility placement. When the IDOC profile lists a different current location, use the current facility address rather than the work camp address.

Visiting Someone at Southwestern Illinois Work Camp

IDOC publishes separate visiting-room hours for Southwestern Illinois Work Camp. Visits are available on Saturdays, Sundays, and official state holidays from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., but no visits are processed after 5:00 p.m. Visitor identification rules are explicit: visitors need photo identification and date-of-birth verification, and expired identification is not accepted. General IDOC visitation also requires approved visitor status and scheduling compliance.

Because IDOC had listed the work camp population at 0 on June 30, 2024, verify the person's current IDOC location before traveling. If the person is housed in the parent SWICC facility rather than the work camp, SWICC's own visitation rules and video visitation schedule may apply instead.

Mail, Phone, and Money at Southwestern Illinois Work Camp

IDOC system rules govern communication and deposits. The work camp uses IDOC mail procedures, IDOC's phone provider, and IDOC deposit services. Individuals in custody cannot receive incoming calls, but they can call approved contacts. Deposits require the IDOC number and last name. Money orders are sent through the JPay lockbox and cannot exceed $999.99 under IDOC guidance.

State Placement, Not County Booking

Southwestern Illinois Work Camp is not a booking destination for new arrests in St. Clair County. County booking, mugshot processing, initial custody status, and early court review belong to the local jail and court systems. The work camp is a state placement inside the IDOC system. A person assigned there has passed beyond the initial arrest stage and is in sentenced state custody, subject to IDOC classification and facility assignment.

This distinction prevents common lookup errors. The county jail current-inmate search may show a person who is still in Belleville awaiting court action or transfer. The IDOC locator shows state custody after prison admission and classification. If a person was sentenced in St. Clair County but does not appear under the work camp, check the IDOC profile for a different current institution, reception status, parole, discharge, or transfer.

Programs and Oversight at Southwestern Illinois Work Camp

The work camp's program list is tied to both minimum-security labor and recovery programming. IDOC material lists community work crews, correctional recovery, substance-abuse groups, ABE, advanced ABE, GED, career technologies, custodial maintenance, construction, horticulture, remedial skills, warehousing, AA, NA, Storybook Project, Pell Grant seminars, Salvation Army, life skills, anger management and domestic violence programming, parenting, family and interpersonal relationships, veterans transition, chaplaincy, and library access. Health care, educational, and dietary services are provided through SWICC.

Oversight is through IDOC, not the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department. The work camp's capacity, population, visitation rules, address, mission, and program descriptions come from IDOC facility material. Custody notifications can be managed through Illinois VINELink, which can send email, text, phone, and mobile app notifications for custody or case changes, although IDOC notes that it does not administer VINE.