South Cook News

There were 219 offenders convicted of property crimes living in Cook County who were released on parole during the second quarter of 2025, according to Illinois Department of Corrections data obtained by the South Cook News.

Of the parolees, 197 were men and 22 were women, with a median age of 37. Among them, there were three veterans. The youngest parolee was a 19-year-old man sentenced in 2025, and the oldest was a 75-year-old man sentenced in 2023.

The offender incarcerated the longest was Jalal Malone. He was convicted in 2015 when he was 27 years old. He is now 37.

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	219	10%	90%	37
Macon County	30	6.7%	93.3%	35
Peoria County	21	9.5%	90.5%	34
Winnebago County	17	11.8%	88.2%	47
St. Clair County	14	14.3%	85.7%	41.5
Lake County	12	8.3%	91.7%	45
Will County	11	18.2%	81.8%	40
Kane County	10	20%	80%	36
McLean County	10	40%	60%	39.5
Sangamon County	8	12.5%	87.5%	40.5
Jefferson County	6	0%	100%	41.5
McHenry County	6	0%	100%	44
Kendall County	5	0%	100%	36
Rock Island County	5	0%	100%	39
Marion County	5	60%	40%	45
Madison County	4	25%	75%	38
DuPage County	4	0%	100%	39
Pike County	4	25%	75%	40
Tazewell County	4	0%	100%	37.5
Vermilion County	4	25%	75%	38.5
Williamson County	4	50%	50%	43
Montgomery County	3	0%	100%	39
Piatt County	3	0%	100%	43
Knox County	3	0%	100%	27
Woodford County	3	66.7%	33.3%	30
Adams County	3	0%	100%	38
Boone County	3	33.3%	66.7%	52
Champaign County	3	33.3%	66.7%	28
Effingham County	3	0%	100%	48
Franklin County	3	33.3%	66.7%	36
White County	2	0%	100%	47.5
Christian County	2	100%	0%	44.5
Coles County	2	0%	100%	35.5
Saline County	2	0%	100%	21.5
Douglas County	2	50%	50%	41.5
Fayette County	2	0%	100%	44
Massac County	2	0%	100%	37
Jersey County	2	50%	50%	37.5
Jackson County	2	0%	100%	36.5
Henry County	2	0%	100%	39
Lasalle County	2	0%	100%	50.5
Macoupin County	2	0%	100%	42
Fulton County	2	50%	50%	39.5
Mason County	1	0%	100%	51
Kankakee County	1	0%	100%	48
Carroll County	1	0%	100%	52
Whiteside County	1	0%	100%	58
McDonough County	1	100%	0%	61
Warren County	1	0%	100%	45
Wabash County	1	0%	100%	49
Hancock County	1	0%	100%	47
Union County	1	0%	100%	33
Clark County	1	0%	100%	24
Stephenson County	1	0%	100%	29
Clay County	1	0%	100%	36
Ford County	1	0%	100%	38
Lawrence County	1	0%	100%	55
Crawford County	1	100%	0%	51
Randolph County	1	100%	0%	33
DeWitt County	1	0%	100%	40
Livingston County	1	0%	100%	42
Edgar County	1	0%	100%	25
Ogle County	1	0%	100%	40
Morgan County	1	0%	100%	42
Gallatin County	1	0%	100%	40