South Central Reporter

There was one offender convicted of a public safety violation living in Clinton County released on parole during the first quarter of 2024, according to Illinois Department of Corrections data obtained by the South Central Reporter.

The data shows that the released offender was a man. He was convicted in 2023 when he was 59 years old. He is now 61.

Commonly referred to as parole in Illinois, Mandatory Supervised Release (MSR) is a post-prison supervision period, in which individuals must follow specific rules like check-ins with parole officers; violations can lead to re-incarceration. Unlike parole, MSR is automatically required for all individuals released after serving a prison sentence.

In 2023, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill to reform Illinois’ Mandatory Supervised Release program. The law aims to reduce recidivism and reportedly create a more effective and equitable supervision system by incentivizing education, streamlining the review process, and expanding virtual check-ins.

“Our current supervision system too often operates unfairly, with rules that make it simply a revolving door back to jail,” Pritzker said at a bill signing ceremony in Chicago. “In fact, more than 25% of people who are released from prison in Illinois end up back behind bars, not because they’re recidivists, but instead for a noncriminal technical violation.”

A 2018 report from the Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council indicated that 43% of released prisoners in Illinois return to prison within three years, costing taxpayers an estimated $152,000 per recidivism event.

County	Total Number of Parolees	% Women	% Men	Median age
Cook County	7	0%	100%	35
Christian County	1	0%	100%	38
Clinton County	1	0%	100%	61
DeWitt County	1	0%	100%	48
Henry County	1	0%	100%	33
Kankakee County	1	0%	100%	32
Macon County	1	0%	100%	29
Marshall County	1	0%	100%	41
McHenry County	1	0%	100%	35
Ogle County	1	0%	100%	29
Peoria County	1	0%	100%	41
St. Clair County	1	0%	100%	27