Cook County Jail

The Cook County Jail, located on 96 acres in South Lawndale, Chicago, Illinois, is operated by the Sheriff of Cook County. A city jail has existed on this site since after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, but major County prisoners were not generally collocated here until closure of the old Hubbard Street Criminal Court Building in the late 1920s. Since then, a 1920s, neoclassical and art deco courthouse for the criminal division of the Cook County Circuit Court has operated here.

As of 2017, Cook County operated the third-largest jail system in the United States by inmate population.The jail has held several well-known and infamous criminals, including Tony Accardo, Frank Nitti, Larry Hoover, Jeff Fort, Richard Speck, John Wayne Gacy and the Chicago Seven.