DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) – The office of Governor J.B. Pritzker released new information about the release of thousands of inmates since March 1, 2020 following a WAND News investigation.
In a I-Team report on Monday, WAND News reported 4,035 inmates had been released. The Governor’s office said Pritzker commuted the sentence of 20 of those inmates but could not say how many were because of COVID-19. After being pressed by investigator Chris Carter, the Governor's office acknowledged none of the inmates who had their sentence commuted were because of COVID-19.
Of the 20 inmates who had their sentence commuted, documents provided to WAND News from the Department of Corrections found eight of them were convicted of murder, six were serving life sentences and 11 of the 20 had more than a year left on their sentence.
Answering a question from Carter during his Thursday news conference, the Governor said he agreed to the release based on the recommendation of the Prisoner Review Board which the Governor said “is a board that reviews these cases and votes on them and makes recommendations and provided information because they have hearings and discuss those cases.”
Of the 4,035 inmates released, the Department of Corrections said about 900 of them were because of COVID-19 and all were “non-violent offenders” who had limited time on their sentence. The remaining 3,100 inmates on the list were released for completing their sentences.
The Governor said every decision he made about inmate release was done with public safety in mind.
"Anybody we are releasing fits a set of criteria that minimizes the risk to communities," Pritzker said.
Two of the inmates who had their sentences commuted by the Governor were serving time at the Logan Correctional Facility. The Logan County Sheriff has not responded to a request for comment.
