McLean County Sheriff: still waiting to transfer prisoners

Posted on June 18, 2021
Sherriff Sandage spoke with our news partner, Heart of Illinois ABC. (Photo courtesy: WJBC/File)

By Heart of Illinois ABC

BLOOMINGTON – The McLean County Sheriff has a message for the Illinois Department of Corrections: take your prisoners.

In a release Thursday, Sheriff Jon Sandage blamed IDOC for 9,000 “bed days” spent in his jail, rather than in a state prison.

At the start of the pandemic, prisoner transfers were halted as an infection control measure.

The sheriff, along with the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association, said that measure needs to be lifted.

Sheriff Sandage said there are currently 65 inmates in the McLean County Detention Facility awaiting transfer.

In that release, Sandage says the hold-up has cost local taxpayers an additional $500,000.

The Illinois Sheriffs’ Association adds in an open letter to IDOC that only seven inmates in the entire state prison population currently have COVID-19.

ISA also wrote in the letter:

“We cannot continue to demand the hours from the correctional staff to meet this unfair and irresponsible action of the Department [of Corrections].

Illinois Sheriffs’ Association letter to IDOC

Jail and prison populations were also among the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

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