The Cook County Jail was put on lockdown Monday after more than a third of its staff called in sick, following a storm that dumped more than a foot and a half of snow on Chicago.
Visitor and detainee movement inside the county jail is limited until further notice due to the staffing shortage, Sheriff Tom Dart said.
The lockdown means only inmates who have court dates or whose who have a medical emergency will be moved throughout the jail. It also means no visitors are allowed.
About 36 percent of the jail's staff did not report to work within the last 24 hours, largely due to the weather conditions and the Super Bowl, not because of any specific incident inside the jail, Dart said.
About 110 staffers on the Sunday night and Monday morning shifts were ordered to work overtime to compensate for the shortage.
A huge winter storm dumped nearly 20 inches of snow on the Chicago area between late Saturday and early Monday morning.
