IDOC Deaths in Custody Data

In order to safeguard the lives of people in custody and increase transparency into how jails and prisons function, it is critical that we are aware of how people in custody die. JHA championed the Illinois Death in Custody Reporting Act (IDCRA), which passed the Illinois Legislature and was signed into law in 2021.

JHA monitors implementation of this law by conducting ongoing outreach to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) to ensure fulfillment of public reporting responsibilities. JHA regularly checks ICJIA's Death in Custody reporting for information, comparing it with the number of deaths reported monthly by the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) in Operations and Management Reports. We further triangulate this information with outreach JHA receives from people in prison and their families/loved ones about deaths of people in custody.

In order to promote awareness and understanding of the IDCRA, JHA has created visualizations of the categories of information collected in Illinois on deaths that have occurred in IDOC specifically. As of November 2024, this information included the period from January 2019 (the second half of Illinois Fiscal Year 2019) through the end of June 2024, or FY 2024. The reported period includes the COVID-19 pandemic, and the number of deaths within our prisons during the height of the pandemic reflect this devastating impact. We hope that presenting this important information in a visually straightforward format will help increase the awareness and understanding of stakeholders, policymakers, and the public about who dies and how in Illinois’ prisons. For information on all deaths that occur in the custody of Illinois’ criminal justice agencies including those outside of IDOC, please refer to ICJIA’s website.