 Birger only spent a single night in the jail; after being arrested for murder, he was released after claiming he acted in self-defense, a claim which kept him out of the jail on two other occasions as well.The jail closed in 1971, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 30, 2007.The building is now owned by the Williamson County Illinois Historical Society and operated as the Williamson County Museum.