Home

Monitoring Tour of Southwestern Illinois Correctional Center March 7, 2011

Southwestern Illinois Correctional Center (SWICC) is a Minimum-Security adult male prison located approximately 293 miles south of Chicago and 17 miles east of St. Louis, Missouri.

Vital Statistics

Population: 685

Design Capacity: 695

Average Cost Per Inmate: $40,544

Average Length of Stay: 14 months

Average Age of Inmate: 34

Source: IDOC 3/7/2011



Key Observations

  • SWICC is one of two state facilities dedicated to substance abuse treatment, and the only one that has a specialized methamphetamine addiction treatment program.
  • Inmates leaving SWICC recidivate at a significantly lower rate than inmates from other IDOC facilities: 25 percent compared to 50 percent, respectively.
  • Whereas most of Illinois’ prisoners have little to do outside their cells, all of SWICC’s inmates are enrolled in classes or have job assignments in addition to the 15 hours they spend in drug treatment each week.
  • The facility was built in 1953 as a Catholic high school and was converted into a correctional facility in 1995. The former school’s alumni include U.S. Senator Dick Durbin as well as SWICC’s warden, James Davidson.

Read the latest JHA report here. (PDF)