5/7/2021
Stats from the McLean County Jail, accurate as of the April 20th, 2021:
Jail population: 243
Proportions by gender:
24 (9.9%) are female
219 (90.12%) are male
Proportions by race:
120 (49.4%) Black
13 (5.6%) Hispanic
109 (44.9%) Person of a Colonial Complexion
Number of people over 50: 25
Number of inmates sentenced: 34 (14%)
Number of inmates pretrial (felony): 198 (81.5%)
Number of inmates pretrial (property felony): 48 (19.8%)
Number of inmates pretrial (misdemeanors): 9 (3.7%)
Number of inmates pretrial for drug offenses: 75 (30.9%)
Number of out of county residences: 68 (28.0%)
The total number of inmates who have tested positive for COVID-19: 7
The total number of jail staff who have tested positive for COVID-19: 18
The current number of inmates positive for COVID-19: 0
The current number of jail staff positive for COVID-19: 0
Total number of inmates vaccinated for COVID-19: 64
Total number of jail staff vaccinated for COVID-19: No Records Are Being Kept
For a second month in a row, Sheriff Jon Sandage was a no show at the McLean County Justice Committee meeting May 4th, 2021. Last news out of the jail was March 24th when the national guard was brought in for a COVID-19 vaccine clinic.1 Only 64 inmates agreed to be vaccinated. They were inoculated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, requiring only 1 dose.
No new vaccine clinics have been reported. Sheriff Sandage provided no clues as to why the majority of inmates refused vaccination or what he was doing to incentive vaccinations. Inmates had been kept in solitary confinement (23-hour a day lockdown) for over a 100 days prior to the vaccine clinic. Some reporting says these restrictions have been lessened, but there are no details on what that specifically means.2 Sheriff Sandage has refused to collect any data on whether jail staff is getting vaccinated (despite more staff members contracting COVID than inmates).
Only one County Board member, District 7’s Sharon Chung, bothered to ask any questions about the jail at the April meeting. County Administrator Camille Rodriguez promised she would relay questions to the Sheriff, but there was no response at the May meeting when again the Sheriff was truant.
Last August, inmates received a new entertainment option thanks to IC Solutions, a prison tele-communication company the county contracts with (The country already generates a 6-figure revenue from this contract.) Inmates will now have access to tablets for music, education, gaming, and more… for a price of course. It costs inmates $.05 per minute for streaming services. Inmates can send emails at $.50 per email at $.05 a minute while typing. Sending a picture will cost a full dollar. The county makes 25% commission on all streaming revenues and at least 10% revenue on emails. Broke inmates can access Ebooks and educational material.
You can see all the juicy details here.
- Though inmates were eligible for vaccines as early as January 18th.
- 21-hour a day is technically less, but still brutal.
