This article provides a concise review of the main features of Illinois’s criminal justice system, what works, and what areas could be improved.

When analyzing a state’s criminal justice system, one of the fastest ways to garner a basic understanding of that state’s system is to find out:

• How many people are incarcerated?
• What are the biggest prisons?

According to the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Illinois has the 33rd highest incarceration rate in the U.S., ahead of Iowa but behind Maryland.¹ Illinois has an incarceration rate of 302 per 100,000 population. The state operates 92 jails in 102 counties. The jail population in 2019 was 19,110. Illinois also operates 28 state prisons, where it holds 38,259 inmates.² Illinois has 93,400 individuals under probation and 26,237 under parole. The state operates its criminal justice system on a budget of $1.192 billion, the seventh costliest item in its budget.³

Illinois has five stand-alone federal prisons within the state’s borders. Illinois does not have private prisons. The Menard Correctional Center is the largest maximum security prison in Illinois, with a prisoner population of about 2,156.⁴

Perhaps the most important metric of them all, the recidivism rate in Illinois shows the degree to which that state’s justice system is working. But before we analyze recidivism, let’s first examine crime rates in Illinois:

Illinois records about 45,000 to 55,000 violent crimes per year. These include approximately 700 murders, 3,500 to 8,000 rapes, 20,000 robberies, and 30,000 aggravated assaults. Illinois also records between 290,000 to 335,000 property crimes per year, most of which are categorized as burglary, larceny, and theft.⁵

Illinois’s recidivism rate varies, but according to the Illinois Department of Corrections, the state has a recidivism rate between 38% to 44%. That means the Illinois criminal justice system is not working for almost half of the offenders who go through it.⁶

What is the scope of criminal rehabilitation in Illinois? Criminal reform in Illinois includes several programs, some of which are offered inside Illinois prisons, others of which are offered as alternatives to incarceration in Illinois.

Some of the programs that inmates can expect to interact with in prisons include:

• Drug and alcohol treatment programs
• Work programs in which inmates are paid for their labor
• Educational programs where inmates can earn their GED
• Vocational training for skilled labor jobs outside of prison

Alternatives to prison are also important for people who commit certain offenses. Such programs allow offenders to take responsibility for those offenses without forcing the offenders into the incarceration system. Currently, alternatives to incarceration in Illinois include programs like:

• Probation
• Family counseling
• Deferred prosecution
• Educational programs
• Second chance probation
• Anger management counseling
• Community service and manual labor
• Drug and alcohol treatment programs for possession-level drug offenders

The Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program is a popular program in Illinois that enables non-violent misdemeanor, felony, and traffic offenders to avoid interaction with the penal system while still providing them with a way to rehabilitate and face the consequences of illegal behavior. This program involves supervised community service on public works projects.⁷

The Restorative Justice Community Court is another example of a successful alternative to incarceration in Illinois. This program was designed for non-violent offenders between 18 and 26. In the program, offenders agree to complete positive community actions and local volunteer contributions to repair the harm caused by their crime.⁸

Illinois also utilizes a work release program, which is a program designed as an alternative to incarceration in which misdemeanor offenders can “work off” their offenses. In short, offenders spend evenings and weekends in a work release center (not a jail) and are allowed to go to work during the day. This program keeps offenders employed, working, and out of a jail cell while providing monitoring and rehabilitative services in the evenings and on the weekends.⁹

By implementing educational programs inside prisons in Illinois and by improving and diversifying rehabilitation programs inside prisons in Illinois, the state can reduce recidivism, improve the quality of life for inmates, and work towards effective rehabilitation for offenders. Shifting towards evidence-based modalities and alternatives to incarceration in Illinois for non-violent offenders will also improve conditions for offenders and the community.

Real criminal reform is possible in Illinois. But it will require Illinois’s criminal justice system to provide the resources necessary for inmates to understand the root cause of their criminal behavior, overcome it, and develop tools and life skills for creating a life without crime.