Illinois Prisons Are Still Overcrowded, Despite 5-Year Population Low
By aaroncynic in News on Jul 28, 2015 12:45PM
Illinois’ prison population is at its lowest level in five years, but the prisons are still overcrowded, according to new state data.
As of May, the Illinois Department of Corrections held 47,483 inmates. That's the lowest number since May of 2010 when it held 47,150, and it represents a 3.7 percent decrease from when the population peaked in 2013 at 49,321, according to The Bloomington Pantagraph.
Nicole Wilson, a spokesperson for IDOC, lauded the drop, saying:
“We are pleased to see the IDOC inmate population trending downward. A reduced prison population not only saves taxpayer dollars but it also promotes a safer prison environment and builds opportunity for stronger communities.”
Officials say the drop in numbers was partially due to a program launched by former Gov. Pat Quinn that rewarded inmates for good behavior, and partly due to lower numbers of people being sent to prison by county judges, who have been encourage to find alternatives to prison for non-violent offenders. According to the Rockford Register Star, 81 of Illinois’ 102 counties are sending less people to prison. Records show that 27,400 entered state prisons in 2009. By comparison, last fiscal year that number fell to 19,600. Cook County also saw a decrease of a little over 3,000 inmates between those years, from 13,406 to 10,268.
Still, Illinois prisons are dangerously overcrowded. In total, the facilities are designed to house just 32,000 inmates.
In February, Gov. Bruce Rauner launched a committee to study how to reduce the population by 25 percent by the year 2025.
“Our prisons are overcapacity and too many offenders are returning to prison,” Rauner said in a press release at the time of the committee’s announcement. “We need to take a comprehensive, holistic approach to our justice system.”
According to data from the Illinois State Commission on Criminal Justice and Sentencing Reform, in 2013, 55 percent of incarcerated Illinoisans were in prison for nonviolent crimes.