Alyssa Williams, Assistant Director at IDOC | Illinois Department of Corrections oficial website
Alyssa Williams, Assistant Director at IDOC | Illinois Department of Corrections oficial website
The data shows that 1,519 men and 58 women were released in Cook County. Of the parolees, 21 were veterans, and the median age was 35. The youngest parolee was a 20-year-old man sentenced for a crime involving one or more weapons in 2023, and the oldest was a 79-year-old man sentenced for homicide in 1983.
The offender incarcerated the longest was James E. Baker. He was convicted of homicide in 1975 when he was 24 years old. He is now 73.
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 Q2 2023 Parolees | % convicted for sex crimes | % convicted for homicide | % convicted for drug-related crimes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cook County | 1,577 | 6.5% | 3.9% | 9.9% |
| Winnebago County | 122 | 10.7% | 2.5% | 14.8% |
| St. Clair County | 116 | 1.7% | 3.4% | 22.4% |
| Macon County | 103 | 4.9% | 1% | 11.7% |
| Kane County | 88 | 1.1% | 2.3% | 19.3% |
| Lake County | 88 | 13.6% | 1.1% | 20.5% |
| Will County | 85 | 5.9% | 2.4% | 17.6% |
| Peoria County | 70 | 7.1% | 8.6% | 14.3% |
| Madison County | 69 | 0% | 0% | 36.2% |
| Sangamon County | 64 | 10.9% | 3.1% | 21.9% |
| Champaign County | 53 | 9.4% | 0% | 9.4% |
| DuPage County | 42 | 9.5% | 0% | 16.7% |
| McHenry County | 38 | 2.6% | 2.6% | 18.4% |
| McLean County | 37 | 2.7% | 2.7% | 24.3% |
| Rock Island County | 29 | 3.4% | 0% | 24.1% |
| Kankakee County | 27 | 3.7% | 3.7% | 22.2% |
| Tazewell County | 27 | 3.7% | 3.7% | 14.8% |
| Lasalle County | 23 | 0% | 0% | 30.4% |
| Vermilion County | 22 | 0% | 0% | 22.7% |
| Marion County | 20 | 0% | 0% | 40% |
| Stephenson County | 18 | 0% | 5.6% | 22.2% |
| Jefferson County | 17 | 5.9% | 0% | 29.4% |
| Adams County | 16 | 6.3% | 0% | 25% |
| DeKalb County | 16 | 6.3% | 0% | 25% |
| Randolph County | 16 | 0% | 0% | 50% |
| Coles County | 15 | 0% | 0% | 46.7% |
| Franklin County | 15 | 6.7% | 6.7% | 26.7% |
| Fayette County | 13 | 0% | 0% | 30.8% |
| Williamson County | 13 | 0% | 0% | 30.8% |
| Boone County | 12 | 41.7% | 0% | 0% |
| Macoupin County | 12 | 0% | 0% | 25% |
| Christian County | 11 | 0% | 0% | 45.5% |
| Kendall County | 11 | 9.1% | 0% | 9.1% |
| Crawford County | 10 | 0% | 0% | 40% |
| Jackson County | 10 | 0% | 0% | 30% |
| Union County | 10 | 0% | 0% | 60% |
| Henry County | 9 | 0% | 22.2% | 33.3% |
| Montgomery County | 9 | 0% | 0% | 66.7% |
| Whiteside County | 9 | 11.1% | 0% | 33.3% |
| Effingham County | 8 | 0% | 12.5% | 50% |
| Iroquois County | 8 | 0% | 0% | 62.5% |
| Knox County | 8 | 0% | 0% | 12.5% |
| Livingston County | 8 | 0% | 0% | 25% |
| Richland County | 8 | 0% | 0% | 75% |
| Bond County | 7 | 0% | 0% | 28.6% |
| Edgar County | 7 | 0% | 0% | 42.9% |
| Monroe County | 7 | 0% | 0% | 57.1% |
| Pike County | 7 | 0% | 0% | 85.7% |
| Saline County | 7 | 0% | 0% | 28.6% |
| Clinton County | 6 | 16.7% | 0% | 33.3% |
| Fulton County | 6 | 0% | 0% | 50% |
| Lawrence County | 6 | 0% | 0% | 66.7% |
| Lee County | 6 | 16.7% | 0% | 16.7% |
| Morgan County | 6 | 0% | 0% | 33.3% |
| Ogle County | 6 | 16.7% | 0% | 16.7% |
| Perry County | 6 | 0% | 16.7% | 0% |
| White County | 6 | 0% | 0% | 50% |
| Bureau County | 5 | 0% | 0% | 60% |
| Carroll County | 5 | 20% | 0% | 60% |
| Cass County | 5 | 0% | 0% | 60% |
| Jersey County | 5 | 0% | 0% | 80% |
| Schuyler County | 5 | 0% | 0% | 40% |
| Shelby County | 5 | 0% | 0% | 60% |
| Wabash County | 5 | 40% | 0% | 20% |
| Clay County | 4 | 0% | 0% | 75% |
| DeWitt County | 4 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Greene County | 4 | 0% | 0% | 50% |
| Mason County | 4 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Massac County | 4 | 25% | 0% | 25% |
| McDonough County | 4 | 0% | 0% | 75% |
| Cumberland County | 3 | 0% | 0% | 66.7% |
| Ford County | 3 | 0% | 0% | 66.7% |
| Hancock County | 3 | 0% | 0% | 66.7% |
| Jasper County | 3 | 33.3% | 0% | 0% |
| Logan County | 3 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Piatt County | 3 | 33.3% | 0% | 0% |
| Warren County | 3 | 0% | 0% | 100% |
| Calhoun County | 2 | 0% | 0% | 100% |
| Clark County | 2 | 50% | 0% | 0% |
| Douglas County | 2 | 0% | 0% | 50% |
| Hardin County | 2 | 0% | 0% | 50% |
| Henderson County | 2 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pulaski County | 2 | 0% | 0% | 50% |
| Woodford County | 2 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Brown County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 100% |
| Edwards County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 100% |
| Gallatin County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 100% |
| Hamilton County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Jo Daviess County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 100% |
| Johnson County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Marshall County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 100% |
| Mercer County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Moultrie County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Putnam County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Washington County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Wayne County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
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