Tamms Release Records Are Historical
Tamms Correctional Center closed in January 2013. Alexander County’s official history notes its role as Illinois’s first supermax, but the site is not an active prison, county jail, or present place to request a 2026 release. Any wording that calls Tamms a current detention facility would misstate the research.
People once held at Tamms were transferred before closure or later released through IDOC. The durable search path is therefore the statewide Individual in Custody Search, followed by IDOC master-file and release records. A former Tamms location can be part of the custody history even when the public result now names another parent institution or a released status.
Search a Former Tamms Prisoner
Start at the IDOC search landing page and use the official form. It accepts last name, IDOC number, or birthdate. A partial surname can return several people. Match the IDOC number, date of birth, sentencing county, mittimus, sentence rows, and other identifiers before selecting a record.
- Search by IDOC number when it is known.
- Otherwise, test the full or partial last name and compare birthdate.
- Open the detail and record Offender Status, Location, and Parent Institution.
- Read Last Paroled Date separately from Projected Parole Date.
- Check Projected Discharge Date and request final records if the dates remain unclear.
The public result can show present or historical IDOC status, but it does not promise a complete facility-by-facility movement history. To prove that a person was at Tamms, request the relevant transfer, assignment, or master-file material rather than relying only on the current Parent Institution label.
Read Tamms Release Dates Carefully
IDOC uses several dates because prison exit and sentence discharge can be different events. Projected Parole Date is forward-looking. It should never be described as a completed release. Last Paroled Date is retrospective when populated. Projected Discharge Date estimates when the sentence or supervision ends and may fall after the person left secure prison custody.
| IDOC field | Safe reading |
|---|---|
| Offender Status | The agency’s displayed status when checked |
| Location | The displayed placement or status location |
| Parent Institution | The responsible state institution, not necessarily every prior prison |
| Projected Parole Date | An estimate that can change |
| Last Paroled Date | A past parole or community-supervision event when shown |
| Projected Discharge Date | Estimated sentence or supervision end |
Mandatory supervised release, or MSR, is a period of state supervision after prison for many Illinois sentences. “Released from prison” may therefore be correct while “fully discharged” is not. Verify the final event with IDOC’s underlying documents.
IDOC Tamms Record Request
IDOC directives identify useful record names. A narrow request can seek a release checklist, notification of release date, sentence-calculation sheet, sentence-credit revocation or restoration record, parole packet, PRB notice, detainer disposition, release packet, final discharge notice, and releasable photograph. For Tamms history, add assignment and transfer records that identify the former institution and movement date.
IDOC FOIA Officer1301 Concordia Court, Box 19277
Springfield, IL 62794-9277
Phone: 217-558-2200 ext. 4166
Email: DOC.FOIARequest@illinois.gov
IDOC contacts
Illinois FOIA generally gives a public body five business days to respond to a noncommercial request, subject to extension and exemptions. That deadline governs the response, not guaranteed disclosure or completion. Security, personal, medical, juvenile, sealed, expunged, and investigatory material may be withheld or redacted.
Tamms Transfer Is Not Release
Closure-related movement from Tamms to another IDOC prison was a transfer within state custody. It should not be called a community release. The transfer record, later parent institution, and eventual release documents form separate parts of the chronology. A former prisoner may have moved more than once before reaching parole, MSR, discharge, or another outcome.
- Transfer
- Movement between custodians or facilities while custody continues.
- Parole
- Conditional community release used for eligible Illinois sentences.
- MSR
- Mandatory supervised release following prison under the sentence framework.
- Discharge
- The end of the sentence or supervision obligation as recorded by IDOC.
If the public search shows only a current or final status, ask for the movement chronology. An Alexander County court case can help connect the state mittimus to the original commitment, but it will not replace IDOC’s later movement and discharge records.
Tamms and Alexander Court Records
A sentence imposed in Alexander County is documented in the Circuit Court docket. The IDOC sentence table can include County, Mittimus, class, count, offense, custody date, and sentence. Compare those fields with the First Judicial Circuit Alexander court information when confirming that the state record belongs to the same case.
The court explains the judgment and later court amendments. IDOC calculates and records custody, statutory credit, parole or MSR preparation, and discharge. One office should not be asked to certify facts held by the other. If a date differs, quote each source and ask the creator to explain its entry.
Sealing or expungement can also affect a public trail. A no-result response cannot be turned into a statement that the person was never confined at Tamms. Name the source checked, spelling used, identifiers tested, and date of access.
Tamms History Versus Current Custody
The county’s history makes Tamms an intuitive search term, but present Alexander detainees are not sent to a functioning Tamms prison. Official evidence points to Pulaski County Detention Center for many local jail episodes. A felony commitment can then enter IDOC and be housed anywhere in Illinois. Geography does not keep a state prisoner near Alexander County.
This distinction prevents two common errors. First, a person leaving Pulaski for IDOC has not been released into the community. Second, a person once held at Tamms does not have a new release record at the closed site. The active custodian and current agency system control the next search.
The Illinois DOC facility records page covers the statewide route in more depth. Tamms should remain labeled historical everywhere it appears.
Historical ICE Is Separate
Tamms prison history should not be blended with the separate historical ICE contract associated with Tri-County/Pulaski in Ullin. The two were different facilities, operators, legal systems, and record chains. Illinois’s TRUST Act ended covered civil immigration detention agreements by 2022, and no current Alexander County ICE contract was verified.
If independent facts suggest immigration custody, use ICE ODLS. Do not infer it from an IDOC discharge, a Tamms history, or a missing jail roster name. ODLS coverage is limited, and an ICE release can lead to several dispositions. A no-result search proves nothing by itself.
Verify the Final Tamms Outcome
A complete former-Tamms record should identify the person, show the Tamms assignment if relevant, document later transfers, distinguish the prison exit from MSR or parole, and show whether a final discharge occurred. The exact evidence will vary by sentence and record availability. Do not calculate a release date from the sentence alone because offense date, concurrent or consecutive terms, presentence credit, statutory service rules, earned credit, revocations, detainers, court changes, and supervision can alter the result.
For a completed event, prefer an accomplished release notification or checklist over a projected date. If the person remained under IDOC supervision, use the agency’s parole contact route. PRB records may apply to designated parole or revocation matters, but PRB is not a universal locator for all former prisoners.
Note: Tamms identifies a past place of confinement; IDOC status and release documents establish what happened after that confinement ended.