Save the date for TWO exciting JHA events!

HB4559 / SB3333: Clarify Access to Sentence Credits for Jail Programming (Rep. Norma Hernandez & Sen. Laura Ellman)

Guarantees people in jail awaiting trial receive sentencing credit for completion of eligible programs, as intended, by clarifying statutory language. Collaborating organizations: ACLU of Illinois, Alliance for Safety & Justice, Cabrini Green Legal Aid, DuPage County Public Defender’s Office, Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender, John Howard Association, Women’s Justice Institute

READ FACT SHEET HERE

JHA 2025-2026 Prison Population Survey

Read JHA's 2025 Annual REport

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Scroll down to find our most recent reports and statements.

Mission & Vision

Our Mission: JHA monitors prisons and advances independent oversight of carceral systems to promote humane treatment and increased transparency.

Our Vision: As long as there are prisons, we aspire to have a system that is equitable, reduces harm, and respects people’s humanity.

our guiding principles

Defying Injustice. Defending Humanity.

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Illinois has one of the most overcrowded, understaffed and underfunded prison systems in the U.S. We believe that people who are incarcerated should be treated humanely and with dignity and respect.

The John Howard Association of Illinois is the only independent prison monitoring organization in the state. We go inside every state correctional facility in order to observe conditions of confinement, find out about the treatment of prisoners and talk to people inside our prisons about their concerns, issues and the realities of incarceration in Illinois prisons.

Impact

For more than 120 years, the John Howard Association has served as Illinois' only independent citizen correctional oversight organization. We uncover problems large and small in our correctional facilities and advocate for reforms that lead to meaningful change for prisoners and their families. System-wide reform leads to more successful correctional outcomes for our communities, and better use of limited resources and taxpayer funds.

JHA’s work leads to changes inside our prisons and throughout our system that impact thousands of lives for the better.

Featured

Advocacy

Statements

Legislative Impact

In the Media

Recent Publications

Our Latest Monitoring Reports

Stateville NRC and Minimum Security Unit
Pinckneyville CC and Murphysboro LSRC
Hill
Western Illinois
Pontiac
East Moline
Jacksonville and Pittsfield Work Camp
Illinois River
Dixon
Lawrence
Sheridan
Vandalia
Logan
Joliet Treatment Center and Joliet Inpatient Treatment Center
Reentry Report Part 2/2: Lincoln, Jacksonville, and Southwestern; the reentry unit at Danville is also discussed
Reentry Report Part 1/2: IDOC’s 2 Life Skills Reentry Centers and 4 Adult Transition Centers

Untapped Potential: The Power of Peer Support Programs in Prisons

Summary
- Peer Support Programs have the potential to address a multitude of the issues that JHA identifies through our monitoring work. Not only is there an enormous need for care, but also a need for productive programming and the opportunity to learn skills that people can use to improve their daily lives while incarcerated, which will ideally also provide them with employment opportunities upon release.
~accord

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Every donation matters. We rely on the generosity of individual, corporate and foundation donors committed to criminal justice system reform. With your support, we will continue to promote prison reform, seeking a fair, effective and humane criminal justice system in Illinois. Thank you!

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John Howard Association in the News

News

Apr 16, 2026

Illinois Prison Officials Digitized Mail to Stop Contraband, But New Data Shows Little Results So Far

Apr 16, 2026

“The switch to digitized mail for incarcerated people has had little impact on the drug exposures the policy sought to stop, according to new data from the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Instead, there was an increase in total drug discoveries between the six months prior to digitization and the six months after — 392 to 414, according to the report obtained by WTTW News.” (WTTW)