Justin Hammers, Chief of Operations at IDOC | Illinois Department of Corrections oficial website
Justin Hammers, Chief of Operations at IDOC | Illinois Department of Corrections oficial website
Of the parolees, 106 were men and three were women, with a median age of 40. Among them, there was one veteran. The youngest parolee was a 22-year-old man sentenced in 2022, and the oldest was a 78-year-old man sentenced in 2013.
The offender incarcerated the longest was Matthew Thompson. He was convicted in 1997 when he was 34 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 reincarceration. 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 | 109 | 2.8% | 97.2% | 40 |
| Winnebago County | 19 | 0% | 100% | 41 |
| Sangamon County | 13 | 0% | 100% | 53 |
| Peoria County | 8 | 0% | 100% | 47 |
| Schuyler County | 6 | 0% | 100% | 42 |
| Lake County | 6 | 0% | 100% | 50 |
| St. Clair County | 5 | 0% | 100% | 47 |
| Kane County | 5 | 0% | 100% | 45 |
| Boone County | 4 | 0% | 100% | 39 |
| Will County | 2 | 0% | 100% | 43.5 |
| Lasalle County | 2 | 0% | 100% | 39 |
| Madison County | 2 | 0% | 100% | 51.5 |
| Stephenson County | 2 | 0% | 100% | 40 |
| Whiteside County | 1 | 0% | 100% | 32 |
| Wayne County | 1 | 0% | 100% | 45 |
| Vermilion County | 1 | 0% | 100% | 47 |
| Tazewell County | 1 | 0% | 100% | 49 |
| Calhoun County | 1 | 0% | 100% | 50 |
| Ford County | 1 | 0% | 100% | 27 |
| Franklin County | 1 | 0% | 100% | 64 |
| Rock Island County | 1 | 0% | 100% | 29 |
| Johnson County | 1 | 0% | 100% | 47 |
| Ogle County | 1 | 0% | 100% | 34 |
| Livingston County | 1 | 0% | 100% | 48 |
| Lee County | 1 | 0% | 100% | 49 |
| Lawrence County | 1 | 0% | 100% | 51 |
| Kankakee County | 1 | 0% | 100% | 46 |
| Knox County | 1 | 0% | 100% | 45 |
| Kendall County | 1 | 0% | 100% | 56 |
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