Illinois

Illinois has no statewide mandate for county-level civilian oversight of sheriffs. Cook County is the only Illinois county with a chartered body whose statutory jurisdiction includes the independently elected Sheriff. All other Illinois counties rely on internal affairs offices and the state's Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board for decertification.
Sheriff oversight
1/102 counties with a dedicated body 0 reports from those bodies
Other oversight
0 Civil Grand Jury reports 6 statewide oversight reports
Compare costs Compare Illinois sheriff departments side by side
102 sheriffs named · of 102 counties
Population, budget, $ per resident, staffing, and jail capacity across all 102 counties.

Data from CA State Controller's Office and CA State Sheriffs' Association.

State context

The SAFE-T Act (Public Act 101-0652, 2021) is principally focused on pretrial detention reform, use-of-force standards, and a statewide officer misconduct database (50 ILCS 705/9.2), not on civilian oversight structures. It does not require counties to create review boards. Chicago's COPA (Civilian Office of Police Accountability) is a City of Chicago body covering CPD only; it has no jurisdiction over the Cook County Sheriff.

Illinois sheriffs are constitutional county officers, elected in all 102 counties under Ill. Const. Art. VII, § 4(a); § 4(c) exempts the sheriff, along with the county clerk, treasurer, coroner, recorder, assessor, and auditor, from elimination or conversion by county ordinance, including in home-rule counties. Statutory duties are set out in 55 ILCS 5/ (Counties Code), Article 3, Division 3-6, "Sheriff." The Cook County Sheriff's Office patrols unincorporated Cook County and handles the jail, courts security, and civil process countywide; the Chicago Police Department, a separate municipal agency, holds primary patrol jurisdiction within the city. Cook and Will counties also each maintain a separate Forest Preserve District Police operating alongside the elected Sheriff.

Counties

1 of 102 counties have a dedicated civilian sheriff oversight body. Highlighted rows have an established body. See methodology for scoring.

# County Status (date) Started (date) LE capability Independence
01 Cook Active 19 years 2007 21/40 71/100

No record found · 101 counties

  • Adams
  • Alexander
  • Bond
  • Boone
  • Brown
  • Bureau
  • Calhoun
  • Carroll
  • Cass
  • Champaign
  • Christian
  • Clark
  • Clay
  • Clinton
  • Coles
  • Crawford
  • Cumberland
  • De Witt
  • DeKalb
  • Douglas
  • DuPage
  • Edgar
  • Edwards
  • Effingham
  • Fayette
  • Ford
  • Franklin
  • Fulton
  • Gallatin
  • Greene
  • Grundy
  • Hamilton
  • Hancock
  • Hardin
  • Henderson
  • Henry
  • Iroquois
  • Jackson
  • Jasper
  • Jefferson
  • Jersey
  • Jo Daviess
  • Johnson
  • Kane
  • Kankakee
  • Kendall
  • Knox
  • LaSalle
  • Lake
  • Lawrence
  • Lee
  • Livingston
  • Logan
  • Macon
  • Macoupin
  • Madison
  • Marion
  • Marshall
  • Mason
  • Massac
  • McDonough
  • McHenry
  • McLean
  • Menard
  • Mercer
  • Monroe
  • Montgomery
  • Morgan
  • Moultrie
  • Ogle
  • Peoria
  • Perry
  • Piatt
  • Pike
  • Pope
  • Pulaski
  • Putnam
  • Randolph
  • Richland
  • Rock Island
  • Saline
  • Sangamon
  • Schuyler
  • Scott
  • Shelby
  • St. Clair
  • Stark
  • Stephenson
  • Tazewell
  • Union
  • Vermilion
  • Wabash
  • Warren
  • Washington
  • Wayne
  • White
  • Whiteside
  • Will
  • Williamson
  • Winnebago
  • Woodford