John Howard Association of Illinois

Summary: Aging sex offenders, a medical staffing problem, far too crowded, but still holding it together.

On July 28, 2010 four representatives of the John Howard Association conducted a monitoring tour of Big Muddy River Correctional Center. Big Muddy is a medium security prison located 290 miles south and west of Chicago. The prison houses 1,850 inmates, about half of them sex offenders as well as a unique group of individuals designated as Sexually Dangerous Persons.

The JHA representatives found problems generic to nearly all prisons operated by the Illinois Department of Corrections. The prison is crowded far past its design capacity. For more than two years an essential medical position has sat vacant. There are not enough educational and vocational training programs for inmates.

Nevertheless, Warden John Evans and other prison management appear to cope with these and other issues as well as can be hoped. The warden seems intent on fixing problems and improving conditions.

Read the full report here (PDF).