Justin Hammers, Chief of Operations at IDOC | Illinois Department of Corrections oficial website
Justin Hammers, Chief of Operations at IDOC | Illinois Department of Corrections oficial website
The data shows that both of the released offenders in Grundy County were men. The younger parolee was a 35-year-old man sentenced for a property crime in 2018. The other was a 38-year-old man sentenced for a property crime in 2024.
The offender incarcerated the longest was Zachary R. Barthel. He was convicted of a property crime in 2018 when he was 29 years old. He is now 35.
Commonly referred to as parole in Illinois, Mandatory Supervised Release (MSR) is a post-prison supervision period, in which individuals must follow specific rules like check-ins with parole officers; violations can lead to re-incarceration. Unlike parole, MSR is automatically required for all individuals released after serving a prison sentence.
In 2023, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill to reform Illinois’ Mandatory Supervised Release program. The law aims to reduce recidivism and reportedly create a more effective and equitable supervision system by incentivizing education, streamlining the review process, and expanding virtual check-ins.
“Our current supervision system too often operates unfairly, with rules that make it simply a revolving door back to jail,” Pritzker said at a bill signing ceremony in Chicago. “In fact, more than 25% of people who are released from prison in Illinois end up back behind bars, not because they’re recidivists, but instead for a noncriminal technical violation.”
A 2018 report from the Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council indicated that 43% of released prisoners in Illinois return to prison within three years, costing taxpayers an estimated $152,000 per recidivism event.
| County | Total Q1 2024 Parolees | % convicted for sex crimes | % convicted for homicide | % convicted for drug-related crimes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cook County | 1,549 | 7.7% | 8% | 7.6% |
| Winnebago County | 146 | 5.5% | 4.8% | 7.5% |
| Macon County | 116 | 4.3% | 4.3% | 19.8% |
| St. Clair County | 110 | 1.8% | 4.5% | 13.6% |
| Peoria County | 104 | 1% | 11.5% | 16.3% |
| Lake County | 89 | 9% | 5.6% | 11.2% |
| Kane County | 88 | 4.5% | 9.1% | 11.4% |
| Will County | 86 | 2.3% | 5.8% | 17.4% |
| Sangamon County | 83 | 19.3% | 6% | 20.5% |
| Champaign County | 72 | 0% | 0% | 19.4% |
| Madison County | 67 | 1.5% | 6% | 23.9% |
| DuPage County | 49 | 0% | 2% | 10.2% |
| McLean County | 43 | 0% | 4.7% | 25.6% |
| Vermilion County | 37 | 2.7% | 5.4% | 21.6% |
| Tazewell County | 31 | 6.5% | 0% | 16.1% |
| Rock Island County | 29 | 0% | 3.4% | 13.8% |
| Adams County | 27 | 14.8% | 3.7% | 29.6% |
| Jefferson County | 26 | 0% | 3.8% | 50% |
| Lasalle County | 25 | 0% | 0% | 44% |
| McHenry County | 24 | 4.2% | 4.2% | 33.3% |
| Kankakee County | 23 | 8.7% | 13% | 8.7% |
| Kendall County | 19 | 5.3% | 5.3% | 10.5% |
| Knox County | 19 | 0% | 0% | 15.8% |
| Henry County | 18 | 0% | 33.3% | 27.8% |
| Franklin County | 17 | 5.9% | 0% | 47.1% |
| Marion County | 17 | 0% | 0% | 52.9% |
| Jackson County | 16 | 0% | 0% | 25% |
| Morgan County | 15 | 0% | 0% | 60% |
| DeWitt County | 14 | 0% | 7.1% | 42.9% |
| Macoupin County | 14 | 0% | 7.1% | 28.6% |
| Randolph County | 13 | 0% | 0% | 30.8% |
| Crawford County | 12 | 0% | 0% | 41.7% |
| DeKalb County | 12 | 0% | 8.3% | 8.3% |
| Logan County | 12 | 8.3% | 0% | 16.7% |
| Whiteside County | 12 | 8.3% | 8.3% | 16.7% |
| Lee County | 11 | 9.1% | 0% | 36.4% |
| Saline County | 11 | 0% | 18.2% | 18.2% |
| Stephenson County | 11 | 9.1% | 0% | 9.1% |
| Christian County | 10 | 20% | 10% | 10% |
| Clinton County | 10 | 10% | 0% | 30% |
| Montgomery County | 10 | 0% | 0% | 30% |
| Williamson County | 10 | 0% | 10% | 20% |
| Fulton County | 9 | 0% | 33.3% | 33.3% |
| White County | 9 | 0% | 0% | 33.3% |
| Coles County | 8 | 0% | 0% | 25% |
| Edgar County | 8 | 12.5% | 12.5% | 37.5% |
| Fayette County | 8 | 12.5% | 0% | 62.5% |
| Livingston County | 8 | 0% | 0% | 62.5% |
| Union County | 8 | 12.5% | 0% | 62.5% |
| Ogle County | 7 | 14.3% | 28.6% | 0% |
| Perry County | 7 | 0% | 0% | 28.6% |
| Pike County | 7 | 0% | 0% | 71.4% |
| Clark County | 6 | 16.7% | 0% | 33.3% |
| McDonough County | 6 | 33.3% | 16.7% | 0% |
| Boone County | 5 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Bureau County | 5 | 0% | 0% | 20% |
| Clay County | 5 | 0% | 0% | 20% |
| Effingham County | 5 | 0% | 0% | 80% |
| Richland County | 5 | 0% | 0% | 40% |
| Bond County | 4 | 0% | 0% | 25% |
| Douglas County | 4 | 0% | 0% | 50% |
| Greene County | 4 | 0% | 25% | 50% |
| Moultrie County | 4 | 0% | 0% | 50% |
| Schuyler County | 4 | 75% | 0% | 0% |
| Shelby County | 4 | 0% | 0% | 50% |
| Wabash County | 4 | 0% | 0% | 25% |
| Woodford County | 4 | 0% | 0% | 25% |
| Brown County | 3 | 0% | 0% | 66.7% |
| Cass County | 3 | 0% | 0% | 33.3% |
| Cumberland County | 3 | 0% | 0% | 33.3% |
| Ford County | 3 | 0% | 0% | 33.3% |
| Henderson County | 3 | 0% | 0% | 33.3% |
| Iroquois County | 3 | 0% | 0% | 66.7% |
| Jersey County | 3 | 0% | 0% | 33.3% |
| Johnson County | 3 | 0% | 0% | 66.7% |
| Mason County | 3 | 33.3% | 0% | 0% |
| Menard County | 3 | 0% | 0% | 33.3% |
| Alexander County | 2 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Grundy County | 2 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Hamilton County | 2 | 0% | 0% | 50% |
| Monroe County | 2 | 0% | 50% | 0% |
| Piatt County | 2 | 0% | 0% | 100% |
| Scott County | 2 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Stark County | 2 | 0% | 50% | 50% |
| Warren County | 2 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Washington County | 2 | 0% | 0% | 50% |
| Wayne County | 2 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Calhoun County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Carroll County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Edwards County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Gallatin County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 100% |
| Hancock County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Jasper County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Jo Daviess County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Lawrence County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Marshall County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pope County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 100% |
| Pulaski County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Putnam County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 100% |
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