Sheriff Sues Governor Over Refusal To Transfer Prison Inmates

CHICAGO — In a petition to the Illinois Supreme Court filed Monday, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said state officials are continuing to refuse to accept the transfer of jail inmates who have been sentenced to state prison.

“For more than a year and a half, the Illinois Department of Corrections has avoided its responsibility to take custody of individuals sentenced and remanded to its custody by the Circuit Court and instead has forced the Cook County Department of Corrections to hold these individuals indefinitely,” Dart said in a statement. “IDOC is required by law to accept, care and keep safe those sentenced to its custody or awaiting a parole hearing. IDOC’s refusal to accept its mandate and accept these individuals into its custody comes at a severe cost for the Cook County Jail.”

As a result, there are more than 500 people detained at Cook County Jail awaiting transfer to IDOC facilities, according to a court filing on the county's behalf from Special State's Attorney Philip Fowler.

The refusal by Gov. J.B. Pritzker and IDOC Director Rob Jeffreys to accept inmates "creates operational, safety and fiscal hardships for the Sheriff and the entire staff and population of the [Cook County Department of Corrections]," Fowler alleged.

Sheriffs across Illinois have for more than a year complained of the millions of dollars in additional costs borne by local taxpayers due to Pritzker's pandemic prisoner policies.

In one of his first executive orders issued in response to last year's outbreak of COVID-19 in Illinois, Pritzker in March 2020 ordered the suspension of all transfers of inmates into state prisons from county jails, other than "limited essential transfers," citing a lack of capacity to protect prisoners from the new coronavirus.

In May 2020, a group of more than 100 sheriffs filed suit asking a judge to order the governor to take the inmates. A Logan County judge agreed with them and struck down Pritzker's inmate transfer ban in August 2020.

While that suit, which was later withdrawn, was still pending, Pritzker rescinded the earlier executive order and issued a new one in July 2020 declaring that Jeffreys had "sole discretion" over the scheduling of inmate transfers. But Fowler argued that no such discretion exists under the law or court rulings.

"Similarly, while COVID-19 continues to be a public health concern, the emergent nature of the pandemic has abated and the risk of serious illness or death has decreased significantly, particulatly among individuals who have been vaccinated," the special state's attorney said in Dart's petition to the Illinois Supreme Court. "It was for this precise reason that both Governor Pritzker and this Court have rescinded most, if not all, of the restrictions that had been imposed to protect the public health."

Related: Judge Strikes Down Ban On Transfers To Illinois Prisons

Dart's petition points out that the state prison population has been reduced by more than 10,000 people since the start of 2020, and that more than a year has passed since the governor ordered IDOC to begin accepting inmate transfers again.

Among the Cook County Jail inmates awaiting transfer to IDOC, there are more than 250 people who have been sentenced to a term in the state penitentiary for a felony offense, while more than 280 of them are eligible for release on bond but cannot be released due to a parole hold.

According to Dart's office, the sheriff "firmly believes that no person should be held in custody if they are entitled to be released," but he lacks the authority to discharge detainees that are required to be held in custody by the state.

While inmates awaiting transfer to state prison make up about 10 percent of the jail's population, they have been responsible for more than 40 percent of fights and other security infractions during the past year at the jail, according to the sheriff's office.

“The state’s refusal to do its job, only makes ours more difficult and dangerous,” Sheriff Dart said. “This has taken an incredible toll on my staff, who have had to work mandatory overtime for months to cover the additional staffing demands caused by IDOC’s refusals– missing out on planned vacations, family moments, and just much needed rest — in order to maintain a safe and secure environment for their colleagues and those in custody."

Related: Cook County Jail Monitoring Sewers For COVID-19, Cases Fall Again

As of last week, there were 29 people in the custody of the Cook County Department of Corrections with confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to the petition. IDOC reported having 80 cases, with 69 percent of them concentrated at the Vandalia and Shawnee correctional centers.

"Also, and even more importantly, Sheriff Dart has repeatedly informed IDOC that all State inmates currently incarcerated in CCDOC have been quarantined and are tested prior to any transfer to IDOC. As such, the risk of further spreading the inflection through increased transfers to IDOC is minimal. However, despite his repeated entreaties to the Governor and Director Jeffreys, the Sheriff has not been able to successfully resolve this pressing issue."

IDOC Spokesperson Lindsay Hess told Patch that the department could accept more transfers at its intake facility in Statesville if more of them were vaccinated. Hess said via email that the department implemented "aggressive guidelines" to protect staff, inmates and surrounding communities from the spread of COVID-19 after the resumption of jail intakes on Aug. 3, 2020.

"Since that date, IDOC has processed 3,923 new admissions from Cook County Jail and 1,368 turnarounds for a total of 5,291 intakes. Intakes from Cook County are scheduled each day that space is available at our Northern Reception Center," Hess told Patch.

Hess said the department was committed to transparent and frequent communication with Illinois sheriffs and all other stakeholders.

"Fully vaccinated individuals are not required to be quarantined upon arrival to an IDOC reception center. The more individuals in county jail custody who accept the vaccine, the greater the number of admissions IDOC can accept," Hess said.

"From June 29, 2021 to August 31, 2021 only 48% of individuals transported to the Northern Reception Center from Cook County Jail were vaccinated," she added. "Unvaccinated individuals put other people housed in IDOC facilities at risk. The Department is committed to taking the necessary precautions to maintain the health and safety of the individuals in custody."

Patch has also requested a response to Dart's petition and remarks from the governor's office and will update this story with any response received.

Read more: Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart v. Gov. J.B. Pritzker, IDOC Director Rob Jeffreys Petition for Writ of Mandamus filed Sept. 20 »