The information below provides complete instructions regarding the Cook County Jail Cermak Hospital Visitation Process, Schedule, Hours, Rules, and Video Visits in Chicago, Illinois.

Following these instructions exactly will enhance your chances of getting official approval to visit an inmate.

It is highly recommended that prior to an inmate visit you call the jail at 773-869-7100 to confirm that visits have not been cancelled.

Visitation Instructions for Cook County Jail Cermak Hospital

Step 1

Go here to the Cook County Jail Inmate Locator Page – scroll to the bottom of the page, put in the inmate's first and last name OR jail ID number and you will be taken to a visitation application page.

Fill it out completely. (Incomplete applications are rejected).

Step 2

Submit the visitation application online or print it out and take it to any Cook County courthouse to turn in.

You must be on the inmate’s approved visitation list to turn in the application. The inmate can only have seven people on the list at a time. He or she must provide the jail with:

Your first and last name
Your address
Your birth date
Your address (which will be immediately verified as a true home address, not an empty sand lot or a P.O. Box)
Your driver license number or if you don’t have one, the inmate will need your state-issued identification number.

To speed the process, write a letter to the inmate immediately and provide this information, requesting that the inmate tear it up as soon as he uses it to fill out his or her visitor list. Alternatively, write the inmate, request that he or she call your landline collect and you can provide the information over the phone while the form is filled out.

Step 3

Keep in mind that within 24 hours of your inmate submitting your information to get you on the visitation list, your address will be verified and your ID will be checked for any outstanding warrants.

You will not be approved if you were released from incarceration within the previous 60 days.

You will also be denied if you are on probation or parole.

Step 4

If approved, before hanging up, ask which division your inmate is in and what are his or her two days per week for visitation.

Each inmate has one weekday and one weekend day that they can have visits, though you can only visit once per week.

Step 5

Decide which of those two days you will visit.

Arrive at the jail as early as possible to avoid the crowd. The line can be long.

Go through the drug detection machine, metal detector and send your purse through x-ray.

Note that approximately every fifth visitor that comes through is checked for active warrants. If one is found, the visitor will be arrested following the visit.

Step 6

When your name is called, you will be guided to the visiting area and allowed a 15 minute visit while seeing the inmate through plexi-glass. Hospitalized inmates are allowed in-person visits, however, a guard is standing right there the entire time.

Who Can Visit an Inmate in Cook County Jail Cermak Hospital

Anyone who has been approved to visit an inmate and can present a valid, current, government-issued ID can schedule an inmate visit.

Cook County Jail Cermak Hospital Visitation Application Process

Cook County Jail requires all visitors to fill out an application prior to your visiting an inmate.

Carefully fill out the application. Incomplete paperwork is cause for denial.

Honesty, especially regarding past criminal convictions, probation etc., is important. These things will most likely show up on the background check – which if lied about on the application, will cause visits to be denied.

Call 773-869-7100 to ask specific questions about the application.

Click here to go to the jail's website for more information about the application process.

Cook County Jail Cermak Hospital Visitation Hours

Address: 2800 South California Avenue, Chicago Illinois 60608

Entrance Directions: Visitation for Cermak Hospital must enter in the Main Gate, located at 27th and California, just south of the Criminal Courts Buildings.

Sunday

2-N, 2-S, 2-E

8:00am - 1:00pm

3-N, 3-W, 3-S

3:30pm - 8:30pm

4th Floor , 5th Floor

Monday

2-W, 3-E, 3-S

3:30pm - 8:30pm

Tuesday

3-N, 3-W, 3-S

3:30pm - 8:30pm

Wednesday

NO VISITS

Thursday

2-N, 2-S, 2-E

3:30pm - 8:30pm

Friday

NO VISITS

Saturday

2nd Floor, 3rd Floor

2-W, 3-E, 3-S

3:30pm - 8:30pm

Call 773-869-7100 or click here to view normal visiting hours and procedures for scheduling a visit.

Cook County Jail Cermak Hospital Visitation Dress Code

Jail staff will turn anyone away who is not dressed appropriately for a visit. The best way to be sure the visit takes place is to dress as if you are meeting someone’s grandmother for the first time.

Don’t wear revealing clothing

Don’t wear clothing that depict drugs, weapons or alcohol.

Don’t wear clothing that reflect gang affiliation.

The guards can turn you away from the visit if they believe your clothing is not appropriate.

Important Inmate Visitation Tips, Rules and Guidelines

If you traveled from more than 150 miles away, verified by a government-issued ID with an address on it, you will be allowed to visit four times within a 30 day period. Once the 30 days is up, you must be properly processed to have more visits.

A warrant check will be done on you while you are visiting.

Jail visits are conducted in person behind plexi-glass or on a televised screen from another location.

Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and guardians must provide proof of their guardianship. Visits are limited to two approved adults and four children.

If an inmate wishes to have more than seven people on the approved visitation list, or have more than two adults at a visit, it must be requested and approved through the jail’s social service office.

Leave all personal belongings, except for your state ID in your vehicle or in a locker (if one is provided).

Children must be monitored at all times or jail staff will end the visit early. If needed, bring a friend who may not be on the list, but can watch the children in the lobby while you are visiting.

If an inmate is hospitalized, visits are restricted to immediate family members only. This means parents, step-parents, children, siblings and grandparents. A guard will be present at all times. Exceptions as to who can visit must be requested through social services.

Call 773.674.5225 or click here to go to the jail's official website for additional Rules regarding Cook County Jail Division Cermak visitation.

'At Home' Video Visitation

Many jails are implementing video visits. These visits are conducted via the Internet on computers, IPADS and Smart phones.

Video visits allow the visit to take place in the privacy of your own home. Some family members 'take their inmate with them' to church, the park, the doctor or anywhere else simply by signing in and bringing the device along.

Video visits save you from having to get your children ready, drive to the jail, wait in long lines and go through security checkpoints just to see the inmate.

Video visitation is slowly gaining favor with all jails in America as jail management realizes the financial savings and reduced security risks involved with remote visitation.

Click here to see if video visitation is now available at Cook County Jail Cermak Hospital – as well as to view the complete set of rules, the cost to you and how to get set up online.

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