East Central Reporter

There are four inmates sentenced in Effingham County set to be released from prison in August, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Lucas A. Shields, who served the longest sentence among them, spent more than three years incarcerated for an offense recorded as 'unlawful use of a firearm, prior felon'.

According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, Illinois spends about $45,828 a year per incarcerated person. In a 2023 study by the Prison Policy Initiative, the state's incarceration rate was at 433 per 100,000, higher than every industrialized country, except the United States. When compared with its surrounding states, Illinois was the lowest. Kentucky and Missouri have rates over 700 per 100,000.

Another study by the Prison Policy Initiative highlighted that the number of unconvicted individuals was more than two times higher than that of convicted individuals, possibly one of the leading causes of prison population growth in the state.

Most prison inmates are released on some condition of supervised monitoring upon reentering civilian life. This monitoring can last from one year to the rest of someone’s life.

Name	Offense	Supervised Release Date	Holding Facility
Lucas A. Shields	Unlawful use of a firearm, prior felon	08/03/2025	Menard Correctional Center
Dalton R. Ard	Aggravated domestic battery involving strangulation	08/09/2025	Pinckneyville Correctional Center
Mark D. Smothers	Theft	08/12/2025	Pinckneyville Correctional Center
Michael E. Miller	Aggravated criminal sexual abuse, victim under 13	08/14/2025	Taylorville Correctional Center