Champaign County Jail updated the way it documents, tracks and reports use of restraint chairs after an Illinois Answers Project investigation raised questions about the facility’s record-keeping practices and failure to report incidents to a state oversight unit.
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 inStatewide Investigations
People were Strapped to Chairs for Hours, Days at Madison County Jail. Many were Mentally Ill or in Withdrawal.
Of all Illinois jails, Madison County has the most incidents of restraint lasting longer than 10 hours–the upper limit set by the chair manufacturer. The jail said they’re not equipped to care for so many mentally ill detainees.
Posted inInvestigations
Impacts and updates from our “Strapped Down” series
Impacts and updates from our “Strapped Down” series
Posted inInvestigating Responses
A Mentally Ill Man was Restrained in a Chair for 68 hours at Franklin County Jail, Violating Policies, Report says
One man was restrained for 68 hours, another for 27 hours. Both were mentally ill. The jail’s own policies say restraint should never last more than 10 hours.
An Illinois disability rights watchdog group says the jail violated both its own policies and state standards.
Posted inStatewide Investigations
Most Illinois jails restrain people in chairs. This county ‘violently shocked’ them, too.
A few years ago, Coles County Jail promised to stop using electrified “stun cuffs” to shock people restrained in chairs. How much has changed?
Posted inStatewide Investigations
The U.N. Calls Restraint Chairs Torture. Illinois Jails Use Them Every Day.
The Illinois Answers Project found jail staff are restraining people in chairs in ways that often violate policies and last longer than recommended by manufacturers.
Posted inFollow-Up
DCFS Chief Marc Smith to Resign from Embattled Child Welfare Agency
The head of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is resigning as leader of the long-embattled child welfare agency, a week after a state audit outlined major failures by the department in recent years.
