Response to common questions and inquiry patterns

¶ … Illinois Department of Corrections is a complex agency that handles a wide variety of duties. The Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections is Gladyse Taylor and was appointed by the Govern of Illinois, Pat Quin, in 2010. Taylor is a native to Chicago and has worked within the Department for Corrections for several years. She also has a business degree from DePaul University (Illinois Department of Corrections 2012). As of 2005, there were 28 Adult Correctional facilities in operation by the IDOC. These facilities, along with work camps, boot camps, and other facilities retain more than 6,700 employees. Additionally, the IDOC serves a huge number of inmates as well. As of recently, there are around 49,000 adult inmates housed in these facilities. There are also are around 26,000 parolees that the IDOC has to supervise as well. Reducing recidivism is an important strategy for the department and for the state of Illinois as a whole. Thus, the IDOC has proposed a number of efforts to reduce recidivism rates. One of the main efforts is put out by Operation Spotlight, which tries to ensure a safer and smoother reintroduction by helping secure a place to live and employment for newly released inmates. Additionally, out of the 31 supermax prisons that are located in the entire United States, there is one in Illinois. This facility is located in Marion, Illinois, and is about 300 miles outside of Chicago.

Housing so many inmates is definitely a costly endeavor, both in terms of actual financial costs and effort in time and manpower. The 2011 Annual Report shows that per inmate, the Illinois Department of Corrections spends an average of $21,451 annually (Illinois Department of Corrections 2011). The state pays much less in terms of annual costs per parolee. In the state of Illinois, there were 15,204 parolees who were Black. This made up about 60.84% of the population. When compared to the number of Black inmates currently serving within Illinois State Correctional facilities, there were 300,500 serving in 2009 out of a total of 767,434 inmates overall. This is less 50% of the margin of inmates. Thus, there is a slight discrepancy between the number of Black parolees vs. The number of Black inmates currently serving. There are actually a greater percentage of Black parolees than the percent of inmates serving within facilities across Illinois. This discrepancy can probably be explained through a number of different factors. Yet, there is a trend which shows that there are more Black inmates serving for drug related offenses. These often come with less sentencing time, and can be a factor in the Illinois Department of Corrections trying to get nonviolent offenders paroled to save space and funding within their facilities. In fact, drug related substances are one the highest offense in most Illinois prisons. In 2011, 8,636 inmates were in prison for violating some element of the Controlled Substance Act. This is the second largest offense category, with murder being the first offense at 8,948 inmates serving. Murder may well be the first category because most murder convictions come with extremely lengthy sentences. With less murderers receiving parole faster, they make up a larger portion of the long standing prison population. The factors of the Control Substance Act also contribute to drug related offenses being second. Minimum sentencing and strict drug laws keep a constant stream of short-term inmates in prison. Unfortunately, despite efforts to decrease recidivism, the department has been largely unsuccessful. In the midst of the current recession, inmates may have an even more difficult time finding employment. The economy is also placing pressure on the budget for the department, making the necessary funding for projects aiming at supporting recent parolees more limited.