Illinois To Release 1,000 Prisoners Early

As a further sign of the difficult economic climate facing the State of Illinois, Governor Quinn has announced that he is planning on the early release of 1,000 prisoners serving time in Illinois prisons. This move is estimated to save the State of Illinois $5 million a year. The majority of those released early will be placed on supervised parole. Each of the released prisoners will be assigned a parole officer and provided drug and other rehabilitative treatment. In addition, many of the released prisoners will be fitted with electronic monitoring devices. Prison officials state that the majority of the released prisoners will be drug and property crime offenders. Only low-level, non-violent offenders will qualify for early release and only those that are in the last year of their sentence will be considered. Inmates who have been convicted of murder, sex crimes, domestic violence or those that have orders of protection pending against them will not be released early. Governor Quinn has pledged to give another $2 million to the Illinois Department of Corrections to monitor the early release of the prisoners chosen for early release. Prison officials have not released specifics about exactly how the release will occur.

Governor Quinn recently announced that the State will be laying off 1,000 prison employees.

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