Cook County Jail - wikipedia Cook County Jail The Cook County Jail, located on 96 acres ( 39 hectares ) in Cook County, Illinois, is the largest single site jail in the United States. Located at 2700 South California Avenue in the city of Chicago, it houses about 6500 prisoners and employs 3900 law enforcement officials and 7000 civilian employees. 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. It was one of three sites in which executions were carried out by electrocution in Illinois. Between 1928 and 1962, the electric chair was used 67 times at the jail, including the state 's last electrocution of James Duke on August 24, 1962. The state 's other electrocutions were carried out at the Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill and at the Menard Correctional Center in Chester. Contents 1 U.S. Department of Justice report 2 In popular culture 3 References 4 External links U.S. Department of Justice report In July 2008, the civil rights division of the United States Department of Justice released a report finding that the Eighth Amendment civil rights of the inmates has been systematically violated. The report found that the CCJ failed to adequately protect inmates from harm or risk of harm from other inmates or staff ; failed to provide adequate suicide prevention ; failed to provide adequate sanitary environmental conditions ; failed to provide adequate fire safety precautions ; and failed to provide adequate medical and mental health care. Specific alleged violations that have resulted in Federal sanctions and / or class action lawsuits include : Systematic beatings by corrections officers Poor food quality Inmates ' being forced to sleep on cell floors due to overcrowding and mismanagement ( resulting in a $1,000 per inmate class - action settlement ) Rodent infestation and injury caused to sleeping inmates by rat and mouse bites Violations of privacy during multiple invasive strip searches Failure to provide adequate medical care, including failure to dispense medications Invasive and painful mandatory tests for male STDs ( resulting in a $200 per inmate class action settlement ) Unnecessarily long waiting time for discharge upon payment of bond, completion of sentence, or charges ' being dropped. Wait times are currently routinely in excess of 8 hours, nearly all of which is spent with many inmates packed into tiny cells. In popular culture The Cook County jail was the setting used for the musical Chicago, as well as its 2002 film adaptation. It has also been in segments of TV series including Chicago Fire and Better Call Saul. B.B. King 's Live in Cook County Jail album features a live recording of a concert that he performed for the jail 's inmates on September 10, 1970. A live album Concert : Friday the 13th - Cook County Jail featuring performances by jazz musicians Jimmy McGriff and Lucky Thompson was released on the Groove Merchant label in 1973 ) The song `` My Long Walk to Jail '' on Filter 's 2002 album The Amalgamut includes a sample of an incoming call from Cook County Jail. The Cook County Prison was referenced to by Elwood Blues ( Dan Aykroyd ) in the film The Blues Brothers as serving oatmeal to inmates. References Jump up ^ `` Cook County Sheriff 's Office - Home Page ''. Cook County. Cook County. Retrieved 29 November 2017. Jump up ^ Davey, Monica. `` Federal Report Finds Poor Conditions at Cook County Jail. '' New York Times. July 18, 2008. Jump up ^ `` ' A serious problem ' U.S. attorney says Cook County Jail falls short of basic standards. '' Chicago Tribune. July 18, 2008. External links Chicago portal Illinois portal Prisons portal Cook County Department of Corrections Website Department of Justice Findings Letter Coordinates : 41 ° 50 ′ 29 '' N 87 ° 41 ′ 51 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 41.8414 ° N 87.6975 ° W ﻿ / 41.8414 ; - 87.6975 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cook_County_Jail&oldid=833946417 '' Categories : Jails in Illinois Buildings and structures in Chicago County government agencies in Illinois West Side, Chicago Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 3 April 2018, at 04 : 07. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what's the largest jail in the united states
Answer: Cook County Jail