East Central Reporter

There were two offenders convicted of crimes against persons living in Crawford County released on parole during the second quarter of 2023, according to Illinois Department of Corrections data obtained by the East Central Reporter.

The data shows that both of the released offenders among the parolees were men. Of the parolees sentenced for crimes against persons, one was a veteran, and the median age was 46. The younger parolee was a 39-year-old man sentenced in 2022, and the oldest was a 53-year-old man sentenced in 2022.

The offender who had been incarcerated the longest was Michael L. Ham. He was convicted in 2022 when he was 50 years old. He is now 53.

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 Number of Parolees	% Women	% Men	Median age
Cook County	182	8.2%	91.8%	36.5
Macon County	30	10%	90%	37.5
Winnebago County	30	13.3%	86.7%	35
St. Clair County	19	5.3%	94.7%	39
Kane County	19	10.5%	89.5%	42
Will County	15	0%	100%	38
Lake County	15	6.7%	93.3%	33
Sangamon County	14	7.1%	92.9%	43
Madison County	13	7.7%	92.3%	35
Peoria County	13	15.4%	84.6%	39
McHenry County	12	8.3%	91.7%	38
Champaign County	11	27.3%	72.7%	39
McLean County	9	11.1%	88.9%	39
Tazewell County	8	12.5%	87.5%	33
DuPage County	6	0%	100%	47
Rock Island County	6	33.3%	66.7%	35
Kankakee County	5	0%	100%	34
Lasalle County	4	25%	75%	40
Jefferson County	4	0%	100%	47
Marion County	4	0%	100%	44.5
Franklin County	4	25%	75%	31
Stephenson County	4	0%	100%	33
Vermilion County	4	25%	75%	33
Coles County	4	0%	100%	33.5
Adams County	4	0%	100%	43.5
Livingston County	3	0%	100%	38
Macoupin County	3	0%	100%	36
Iroquois County	3	0%	100%	39
Ogle County	2	0%	100%	38
Mason County	2	0%	100%	32
Perry County	2	0%	100%	39.5
Saline County	2	0%	100%	32.5
Schuyler County	2	0%	100%	54.5
Williamson County	2	0%	100%	44
Lee County	2	0%	100%	44.5
Boone County	2	0%	100%	29
Christian County	2	0%	100%	37.5
Clinton County	2	50%	50%	44
Crawford County	2	0%	100%	46
Jackson County	2	0%	100%	41.5
Henry County	2	0%	100%	43.5
Henderson County	2	50%	50%	32.5
Greene County	2	0%	100%	32.5
DeKalb County	2	0%	100%	43.5
Woodford County	1	0%	100%	34
Wabash County	1	0%	100%	31
Union County	1	100%	0%	33
Cumberland County	1	0%	100%	45
Effingham County	1	0%	100%	25
Fayette County	1	0%	100%	41
Fulton County	1	0%	100%	25
Randolph County	1	0%	100%	37
Putnam County	1	0%	100%	37
Johnson County	1	0%	100%	30
Moultrie County	1	0%	100%	26
Kendall County	1	0%	100%	42
Knox County	1	0%	100%	50
Lawrence County	1	0%	100%	41
Logan County	1	0%	100%	43