Illinois county jails report thousands of “extraordinary or unusual” incidents every year, but the state doesn’t keep track. So we stepped in to shed light on what’s happening inside.
Grace Hauck
Grace Hauck is an investigative reporter with Illinois Answers Project’s State Investigations Team. Before joining Illinois Answers, she worked for USA TODAY in Chicago in various roles, including breaking news, enterprise and criminal justice reporting. She grew up in New Jersey and is a graduate of the University of Chicago.
Posted inInvestigations
Unsanitary, Unsupervised, Understaffed: Most Illinois Jails Aren’t Meeting Minimum State Standards
Jails that routinely fail inspections can be referred to the attorney general — but the Department of Corrections hasn’t done so in over a decade.
Posted inInvestigations
Dozens of Deaths in Illinois Jails Missing from State Records
An Illinois Answers Project analysis revealed that 63 people who died in jails were missing from state data on in-custody fatalities. Now the state is auditing its records.
Posted inInvestigations
Winnebago County Guards Fire Pepperballs More than Any Other Illinois Jail — Often at People with Mental Illnesses
Use of pepperball guns in Illinois jails is not the norm. Of the 90 jails, 11 reported using them in recent years, and 9 others have them on hand. But one, the state’s second-largest county jail, stands out for its repeated use.
Posted inCriminal Justice & Public Safety
Two Years After Illinois Answers Exposed Restraint-chair Abuse, Jails Are Doing Better
At least ten Illinois county jails that weren’t reporting their use of restraint chairs to a state monitoring unit began doing so after an Illinois Answers Project investigation revealed jails […]
Posted inCriminal Justice & Public Safety
How We Built a Database of Illinois Jail Records — and How You Can Use It to Do Your Own Digging
More than four years in the making. Over 65,000 pages of government documents. Nearly a thousand records requests and over a hundred interviews. This is what it took to create […]
Posted inInvestigating Responses
What to Know About Your County’s Mental Health Court
This story is a collaboration between Illinois Answers and the Chicago bureau of MindSite News. Mental health courts have proliferated across Illinois in recent decades. Now, the state has 31 courts across […]
Posted inInvestigating Responses
Prison or Treatment? Thousands Participate in Mental Health Courts. Half Graduate — and Millions Are Left Out
This story is a collaboration between Illinois Answers and the Chicago bureau of MindSite News; sign up to receive their newsletter here. Bloomington native Shayla Woodworth had struggled with mental illness and […]
Posted inFollow-Up
Mentally ill man restrained in chair for 3 days settles case in Williamson County
A man with mental illness who says he was strapped down to a chair for three days at Williamson County Jail reached a settlement in his civil rights case against […]
Posted inCriminal Justice & Public Safety
‘You’re One of Us’: After Off-Duty Cop Crashed Car Then Holed Up at Home in Armed Standoff with Police, He Got a Big Hug and Initially Faced No Charges
Officer Ryan Harter eventually was charged with misdemeanors — nearly three weeks later.
