Cook County Jail

[2] Since then, a 1920s neoclassical and art deco courthouse for the criminal division of the Cook County Circuit Court has operated at the South Lawndale complex.

[3] The jail has held several well-known and infamous criminals, including Al Capone, Tony Accardo, Frank Nitti, Larry Hoover, Jordan Tate, Jeff Fort, Richard Speck, John Wayne Gacy and the Chicago Seven.

[7] A rather elaborate neoclassical and art deco inspired high-rise built in the late 1920s, the courthouse was long known by just its cross-street location "26th and Cal" (26th Street and California Avenue) and has held many high-profile cases and is often seen in films and television.

[9] On April 27, 2020, a federal judge overruled objections from Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Sheriff Tom Dart in a sweeping preliminary injunction that mandated the Cook County Sheriff's Office implement additional testing and social distancing measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at the jail.

[10][11] This included banning the jail from corralling new inmates into cramped “bullpens” or group housing and mandating it provide face masks to all detainees under quarantine and regularly sanitize common surfaces.

[12][13] The jail's inmate population dropped by almost one-fifth during the coronavirus pandemic after a state judge ordered a review of cases involving low-risk, primarily non-violent detainees.

Specific alleged violations that have resulted in Federal sanctions and/or class action lawsuits include: The women's section of the former Cook County jail near Hubbard Street is the setting used for the musical Chicago, as well as its 2002 film adaptation.