Sheriffs across the state are suing the Pritzker administration’s Department of Human Services over the state’s continued delays in transferring jail inmates deemed unfit to stand trial. The problem has been happening since before the pandemic, but was made more acute after Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 executive orders in April 2020, according to Illinois Sheriffs’ Association Executive Director Jim Kaitschuk.
The orders have since been modified, but detainees the state is required to evaluate are not being transferred in a timely fashion. The state has already been held in contempt of court once over the issue with several pending cases in Sangamon County alone. Sheriff Jack Campbell said they don’t have the resources for the inmates.
The sheriffs from Knox, Madison, Rock Island, Macon and McLean counties joined Sangamon County’s lawsuit Thursday in an attempt to order the state to transfer such inmates.
story from the Illinois Radio Network
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