By Heart of Illinois ABC
BLOOMINGTON – Inmates’ use of computer tablets at the McLean County Jail has become the subject of a political battle between County Board Democrats and Republican Sheriff Jon Sandage.
Each side is accusing the other of politicizing the issue after all nine Democrats and three Republicans decided Thursday night to delay voting on a vendor’s contract for the tablets, which inmates could use for communicating with family, educational programs, and entertainment.
Democrats said they don’t want the county government profiting from a portion of the fees inmates pay to use the equipment.
Inmates have had those tablets in their possession for a while, but Sandage said he ordered them taken away because he’s uncomfortable operating under a contract that might not be signed.
The contract tabled by the board called for inmates to pay 25 cents per email and five cents per minute of internet use, with the government receiving 25% of the money. The board tabled a vote on the contract so the county can renegotiate the deal.
Friday evening, the nine Democrats sent out a news release saying they are “disheartened and shocked” to learn Sandage took the tablets away from the inmates.
“We were not given an adequate explanation as to why he did this, since nothing really has changed in the past 24 hours, except for the contract being tabled for renegotiation,” the Democrats said in a statement.
“So we can only surmise that he is doing this as retaliation for our vote and that he is playing a political game with the inmates and their hardworking families and loved ones as pawns,” the Democratic board members said.
“We ask that Sheriff Sandage return the tablets to the inmates immediately as the contract is being renegotiated. There is no reason for him to be using incarcerated inmates and their families as pawns in this political game of his,” they went on to say.
Sandage told Heart of Illinois ABC that it’s ridiculous for the Democrats to politicize this.
The money the county receives from the fees help fund the sheriff’s office and other programs, said Sandage. He said it’s a choice between taxpayers or the inmates paying for the tablets.
The sheriff said inmates were upset when corrections officers took away the tablets Thursday night.
“We’re upset for them,” the sheriff said.
Heart of Illinois ABC can be reached at [email protected].
