Part 1
5/5/2020
The Justice Committee of the McLean County Board met Tuesday, the second time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. As usual, Sheriff Jon Sandage gave his report on the County Jail. “We’re averaging about 140 in-house,” Sandage said. Sandage’s entire report was only this one sentence, and a yes to Committee Chairperson’s George Gordon’s question if things within the jail remained the same as last month.
As of April 24th, the current jail population is 164 (with in-house population being 139). 54% of the inmates are black, and 40.2% are white. At least 14 inmates are over the age of 50. Convicted inmates serving their sentences make up only 17% of the population. The majority (81%) are there pre-trial, meaning they haven’t been convicted of a crime yet.
District 8 Member Carlo Robustelli was the only member to ask Sandage about the jail’s current policy of charging exorbitant rates for tele-communications. The jail, contracted through the corporation Inmate Communication Solutions (IC Solutions), charges $7.50 for a thirty minute video visitation and .25¢ per minute for phone calls. Visitors can either use the IC Solutions technology in-person at the jail or through ther computer at home. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the jail has been under 23-hour a day lockdown. Inmates were previously allowed 3 free video visits a week if their visitors came to the jail in-person. However, the jail has canceled all in-person visitation during the pandemic, requiring visitors to contact inmates online. Rubostelli asked about the former policy of allowing three free visits and whether it could temporarily be allowed for on-line visitation. “The video visitation system is a luxury,” Sandage retorted indignantly with a subtle snort. “There is nothing in the Illinois Jail Standards that you have to have video visitation. All inmates are technically allowed is one 5 minute phone call a week. We’ve far exceeded that. Video visitation is a luxury not a necessity.”
District 6 Chairperson Gordon asked the committee if there was any interest in getting further information about the IC Solution services from County Staff. “The budgetary reality,” Gordan said, “is that the County is receiving more than expected from the fees that were established under the contract, back in July of 2018 with IC Solutions. I’ve heard some numbers mentioned–that I think are accurate–that at least in one recent month an excess of $17,000; in another more recent month, $18,000.” Most of the committee was completely uninterested in further conversation, and deferred to the Sheriff. The revenue from the contract goes directly into the general fund of the county.
District 3 Member George O. Wendt: “I think if that money is extra revenue, it’s extra revenue. We’re going to need that since sales tax will be down. Unless the Sheriff thinks this is something that should be looked at, I think this should just be put off.”
District 2 Vice Chair Jim Soeldner: “I’d be interested in some kind of cost analysis. But, any loss of that revenue is going to have to be made up somewhere, and I suspect it will be made up by the tax payers; and, I wouldn’t be in favor of that.”
District 9 Member Susan Schafer: “I’m not sure on this. I know administration is very busy, and I don’t know if we want to give them even more work to do. I know this is about fees, but we also received this e-mail from [State’s Attorney] Don Knapp that gives me concerns too as to how this is all related. Right now, I’m pretty not in favor. It’s in the budget. The Sheriff’s office has this in the budget. If we don’t charge fees then where are we going to make it [the revenue] up. I wanna go back to what the Sheriff said and this is actually a luxury. We have to consider this is a luxury no matter how you look at it.”
Robustelli: “I’m interested to learn more, cause I don’t think this will necessarily take more time. All of this is done through technology. It makes sense to me that we provide (if we can) the same opportunities that we would have otherwise. Particularly because we don’t know how long this [pandemic] will go on. I’m not comfortable with us being several months or several weeks down the road and having profited off of this group of people who are just trying to call their loved ones or their family. I would just like to know more from the consultant we use whether that’s possible cause it’s the same technology. I would really love more information. I’m not comfortable profiting over this; that doesn’t seem right to me.”
District 3 Member Randall Martin: “These folks are in jail. We didn’t put them there; they put themselves there. This is a luxury; we can’t provide it right now. End of story as far as I’m concerned.”
District 9 member Lyndsay Bloomfield: “First, and foremost, I defer to the Sheriff, and his office’s expertise on this matter. I suggest we hold this question until the time to renew contracts.”
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The existing contract with IC Solutions was signed in 2018. It guarantees the Mclean County 72% commission on phone call revenues, and 50% commission on all video calls. This means: the more inmates in the jail, the higher communication revenue becomes.
Unanswered questions:
Can IC Solutions offer free phone or video visitations? Well, yes, and they are offering that service, but apparently only to jails that request it. As of March 23rd, IC Solutions released this message to the press: “IC Solutions is doing its part to help families stay connected with their incarcerated loved ones by offering thousands of free telephone calls and remote video visitation sessions at facilities where in-person visits have been temporarily suspended.” So, if the company is offering it, why hasn’t the Sheriff’s office requested it?
If video visits are such a luxury, why did Sandage allow three free visits a week in-person before the pandemic?
Has there been difficulty in acquiring new PPE for staff?
Since the jail population is its lowest population to date, have expenses for the jail gone down since they don’t need as much staff?
Has Sandage sent all corrections officers and jail staff to get tested for COVID-19 to guarantee the health of the jail? They all qualify to get tested. Why was this question not asked by any county board members during a pandemic?
What toll does 23-hour a day isolation have on inmates & staff? Does isolation increase or decrease the mental health of inmates? Does it lead to more danger for staff?
The lack of interest in these questions by County Board members of both parties is why there is so little transparency and accountability at the jail.
