Senator says taxpayers fleeced by corrections department

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – The Illinois Department of Corrections is facing questions over its failure to comply with state law while spending hundreds of millions of dollars on overtime.

The Legislative Audit Commission questioned IDOC leaders Tuesday over 40 compliance findings for a two-year period ending in June 2024.

IDOC Director Latoya Hughes reported progress, noting that the department’s findings were reduced to 40 from 60 in the previous audit.

State Sen. Laura Ellman, D-Naperville, said the audit showed budget increases for contracted services while the inmate population was decreasing.

“These dollars that our taxpayers are spending, we want to make sure that we’re getting value from these dollars,” Ellman said.

IDOC Chief Financial Officer James Deen said the department’s budget has increased 8 to 10% annually.

Hughes said there are a little more than 30,000 individuals in IDOC custody. She said health care, education, staffing and operational costs increase every year, and facilities need to be maintained whether they have five or 1,500 people.

IDOC reported a population more than 44,000 in 2016.

State Rep. Amy Elik, R-Alton, asked Hughes if it was a bad idea to allow workers who take a vacation week to come in and work four hours at an overtime rate.

“We comply with the collective bargaining agreement that’s in place,” Hughes said.

“So this has been going on since 2014. In one year’s time it was $151 million, so take that times the last twelve years because, obviously, this is still going on even after the audit period, correct?” Elik said.

“That particular process has not changed, correct,” Hughes said.

“Ok, that’s shameful,” Elik said.

State Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, said IDOC and the Department of Children and Family Services are the two worst-run departments in the state.

“We are being fleeced as taxpayers. We are putting people’s lives at risk, the men and women that work there every day as well as the inmates,” Rose said.

Rose pointed out compliance findings that IDOC violated both federal and state laws.

“It is sort of the ultimate in ironies that you’re housing the people that we accused of violating the state law, and you guys are violating the state law,” Rose said.

Rose said the department failed to report offender resident information, failed to report data on electronic monitoring and did not comply with safety and sanitation standards.

“That’s a lawsuit waiting to happen for the taxpayers to pay,” Rose said.

Rose opposed a motion to accept the audit and said the committee would bring the IDOC officials back to discuss how much more compliance they are doing.