The IL Department of Corrections has fallen behind in paying at least one state Licensed Transitional Housing Facility. IDOC inmates report that the parole of 12 sex offenders who were temporarily assigned to live at the Another Chance Center in East St. Louis, IL , was “violated” on June 8, 2010, by IDOC. Tuesday, all parolees at that center were remanded into the custody of IDOC and moved to the Graham Correctional Center in Hillsboro, IL. Graham is an IDOC facility for special populations including sex offender treatment. Eleven of the twelve parolees were holding down jobs in the community as well as living at the facility during their MSR. They were also complying with all IDOC regulations.
Apparently, IDOC fell behind in paying rent to the facility on behalf of the inmates, so they were unable to remain at the center. The parolee violations were not the fault of the individual inmates. IDOC parole agents used the provision that the parolees were not meeting the requirement that they have “approved places to stay” in order to “violate” their parole.
The Another Chance Center anticipates that the state will “catch up” in shortly in it’s payments to the facility, but it will take at least another 30 days for any of the inmates returned to Graham to possibly be approved to return to the facility. The interruption in their MSR may place the inmate jobs in jeopardy.
This cash problem at IDOC is similar to other recent money shortages IDOC has faced lately, such as the approximately $6,000 owed by the state to ammunition vendor Shore Galleries which forced the vendor to cut off ammunition sales to IDOC in April 2010. Southeastern IL College dropped it’s Prison Education Program at two southern IL prisons early this month due to lack of payment from the State of IL and IDOC.
These incidents may be the start of a trend due to the immense State of Illinois budget shortage. That the 12 inmates affected in this IDOC money problem were sex offenders and that the problem should be resolved shortly is beside the point. This is a warning of things to come for other IDOC inmates on issues related to medical care, facility conditions, libraries, parole, half way house availability, educational programs and work release centers across the state of Illinois. In these times of budgetary crisis, IDOC will cut expenditures wherever it can effect short-term savings. IDOC is already stressed to the max by having to house the additional non-violent offenders for their on-going terms that it would ordinarily have released earlier through Early Release programs. The estimate has been tossed around in the media that it costs IDOC presently $2,000 per day per inmate to house these individuals pending the legislature’s resolution of issues related to the Early Release programs.
RichardWanke.Com 
I think this is just insane!! First off why are these judges not following the crime reduction act of 2009? In there it states that non violent offenders should be punished within the community, yet these States Attorneys seem to think IDOC is the place for all offenders to go, it makes me irrate!!! I live in Boone County and have a loved one currently incarcerated in IDOC on a first time drug charge that was a set up by his so called friend, who happened to be working with 2 Belvidere Detectives. The sad thing is the judge himself said he believed my man was set up, not a drug dealer ( as the police found NO drugs in the raid of our house)and is not a drug user, yet sentenced him to 4 yrs, my man was currently enrolled in Kaplan Univer, achieving a deans list certificate and working a full time job, all which he had to lose because the states attorney refused probation. These low level non violent offenders to be released and given a chance to go back to being productive members of society!!
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I think it’s awful that we play with peoples lives the way the state does. Let’s not drive people crazy, we have to live next door to them at some point.
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This is what I have been talking about since the beginning of the year. Why keep the non-violent inmates locked up when the State is in such dire straights. Give them their good time and cut some expenses. My friend is very ill and the medical treatment that he needs is being done partially, but if he were out it would not cost the state anything for medical and they would not have to pay for his housing and etc.
BRING BACK GOOD TIME FOR ILLINOIS PRISONERS.
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