Menard is an unincorporated community in Randolph County

Randolph County, Illinois

Randolph County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 33,476, which is a decrease of 1.2% from 33,893 in 2000. Its county seat is Chester....

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Menard is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 west of Chester

Chester, Illinois

Chester is a city located on the bluffs of the Mississippi River Valley in Randolph County, Illinois, United States. The population was 8,400 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Randolph County and is located south of St. Louis, Missouri.-History:...

. Menard Correctional Center

Menard Correctional Center

Menard Correctional Center, known prior to 1970 as Southern Illinois Penitentiary, is located in the town of Chester in Randolph County, Illinois. It is a state prison housing maximum-security and high medium-security adult males.The average daily population as of 2007 is 3,410. Menard Correctional...

 is located within the community. Menard has a post office

Post office

A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

 with ZIP code

ZIP Code

ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

 62259.

Government and infrastructure

The Illinois Department of Corrections Menard Correctional Center

Menard Correctional Center

Menard Correctional Center, known prior to 1970 as Southern Illinois Penitentiary, is located in the town of Chester in Randolph County, Illinois. It is a state prison housing maximum-security and high medium-security adult males.The average daily population as of 2007 is 3,410. Menard Correctional...

 is located in the Menard area and in Chester

Chester, Illinois

Chester is a city located on the bluffs of the Mississippi River Valley in Randolph County, Illinois, United States. The population was 8,400 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Randolph County and is located south of St. Louis, Missouri.-History:...

. Prior to the January 11, 2003 commutation of death row sentences, male death row inmates were housed in Menard, Tamms

Tamms Correctional Center

The Tamms Correctional Center is a Illinois Department of Corrections prison located in Tamms, Illinois. The prison has two sections, a 200-bed minimum security facility opened in 1995, and a 500-bed maximum security facility known as the Closed Maximum Security Unit opened in 1998...

, and Pontiac

Pontiac Correctional Center

Pontiac Correctional Center, established in June 1871, is a Illinois Department of Corrections maximum security prison for adult males in Pontiac, Illinois. The prison also has a medium security unit that houses medium to minimum security inmates and is classified as Level 3...

correctional centers. After that date, only Pontiac continued to host the male death row.