The following information breaks down the letters received from inmates and responded to by JHA during the 2016 calendar year. During 2016, JHA received 2,623 letters from 1,468 inmates. JHA also received and responded to more than 612 calls and emails.
Description of Subjects/Issues:
Accounts: Commissary, Inmate Trust Account, Inmate Benefit Fund, State Pay, Indigent Status
Assignment: Cell Assignment, Job Assignment, Classification
Conditions: Temperature, Water, Food, Clothing, Sanitation, Security, Overcrowding, etc.
Credit: All forms of sentencing credit this is awarded or revoked by IDOC
Discipline: Issues related to inmate disciplinary process
Grievance: Issues related to the process by which people imprisoned attempt to have problems resolved by correction officials
Staff Conduct: Complaints as to staff not following rules and disagreements with staff implementation of discretionary authority
Inmate Conduct: Complaints from one inmate about another inmate(s)
Information: Requests for a wide range of materials, including JHA reports, articles, resource guides, etc.
Legal: Requests for printouts of case law and statutes, legal information, legal forms, etc.
Mail: Issues related to mail delivery to and from prisons/jails
Medical: Complaints as to quality of care received or lack of care
Post-Release: Door violators, host site approval, Mandatory Supervised Release (MSR, or parole) violations, MSR conditions, etc.
Pre-Release: Adult Transition Centers (work release), Electronic Detention, etc.
Programs: Educational programs, lack of educational programs, treatment programs, etc.
Protective Custody: Inmate requests to be specially housed and concerns related to protective custody practices
Segregation: Administrative detention, privileges/lack of privileges while housed in disciplinary unit, etc.
Sentencing: Questions and concerns related to how an inmate’s sentence is being calculated, and how IDOC is classifying his/her offense
Transfer: Requests from inmates to be transferred to another prison, have security classification reduced, serve MSR term out of state, etc.
Visiting: Issues related to prison visiting rooms and restrictions, plus telephone contact