There were 174 offenders released on parole during 2024 that live in McLean County, according to Illinois Department of Corrections data obtained by McLean County Times.
The data shows that 150 men and 24 women were released on parole in McLean County during 2024. Of the parolees, five were veterans, and the median age was 36. The youngest parolee was a 20-year-old man convicted of a crime involving one or more weapons in 2023, and the oldest was a 70-year-old man convicted of a property crime in 2024.
The offender who was incarcerated the longest was Anthony E. Whiteside. He was convicted of a sex crime in 1998 when he was 36 years old. He is now 63.
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 2024 Parolees | % convicted for sex crimes | % convicted for homicide | % convicted for drug-related crimes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams County | 116 | 5.2% | 2.6% | 30.2% |
| Alexander County | 14 | 7.1% | 7.1% | 28.6% |
| Bond County | 24 | 4.2% | 0% | 50% |
| Boone County | 24 | 0% | 0% | 20.8% |
| Brown County | 5 | 0% | 0% | 80% |
| Bureau County | 23 | 8.7% | 0% | 26.1% |
| Calhoun County | 4 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Carroll County | 13 | 7.7% | 0% | 46.2% |
| Cass County | 9 | 0% | 0% | 66.7% |
| Champaign County | 234 | 0.4% | 1.3% | 13.2% |
| Christian County | 28 | 10.7% | 3.6% | 35.7% |
| Clark County | 17 | 5.9% | 0% | 35.3% |
| Clay County | 19 | 0% | 0% | 47.4% |
| Clinton County | 20 | 5% | 0% | 30% |
| Coles County | 55 | 1.8% | 3.6% | 34.5% |
| Cook County | 5,480 | 7.9% | 5% | 8.1% |
| Crawford County | 42 | 4.8% | 0% | 40.5% |
| Cumberland County | 4 | 25% | 0% | 25% |
| DeKalb County | 43 | 2.3% | 7% | 11.6% |
| Deported County | 80 | 58.8% | 13.8% | 3.8% |
| DeWitt County | 21 | 0% | 4.8% | 33.3% |
| Douglas County | 10 | 0% | 0% | 30% |
| DuPage County | 173 | 2.3% | 3.5% | 11% |
| Edgar County | 25 | 4% | 4% | 24% |
| Edwards County | 7 | 0% | 0% | 14.3% |
| Effingham County | 26 | 0% | 0% | 53.8% |
| Fayette County | 26 | 11.5% | 0% | 61.5% |
| Ford County | 8 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Franklin County | 49 | 2% | 0% | 40.8% |
| Fulton County | 32 | 0% | 12.5% | 31.3% |
| Gallatin County | 8 | 12.5% | 0% | 25% |
| Greene County | 15 | 13.3% | 0% | 53.3% |
| Grundy County | 11 | 0% | 9.1% | 18.2% |
| Hamilton County | 12 | 8.3% | 0% | 16.7% |
| Hancock County | 10 | 10% | 0% | 50% |
| Hardin County | 8 | 0% | 0% | 75% |
| Henderson County | 5 | 0% | 0% | 60% |
| Henry County | 55 | 3.6% | 14.5% | 36.4% |
| Iroquois County | 17 | 17.6% | 0% | 29.4% |
| Jackson County | 64 | 3.1% | 0% | 29.7% |
| Jasper County | 9 | 0% | 0% | 33.3% |
| Jefferson County | 71 | 0% | 1.4% | 39.4% |
| Jersey County | 21 | 0% | 0% | 19% |
| Jo Daviess County | 5 | 0% | 0% | 20% |
| Johnson County | 5 | 20% | 0% | 20% |
| Kane County | 269 | 4.5% | 5.2% | 16.4% |
| Kankakee County | 103 | 4.9% | 3.9% | 14.6% |
| Kendall County | 49 | 6.1% | 8.2% | 16.3% |
| Knox County | 50 | 4% | 2% | 16% |
| Lake County | 308 | 11.4% | 2.9% | 14.6% |
| Lasalle County | 78 | 1.3% | 0% | 35.9% |
| Lawrence County | 16 | 0% | 0% | 56.3% |
| Lee County | 23 | 8.7% | 4.3% | 34.8% |
| Livingston County | 40 | 7.5% | 2.5% | 30% |
| Logan County | 36 | 2.8% | 2.8% | 27.8% |
| Macon County | 438 | 5.5% | 2.1% | 16.7% |
| Macoupin County | 46 | 0% | 4.3% | 41.3% |
| Madison County | 279 | 2.5% | 3.6% | 29% |
| Marion County | 51 | 3.9% | 0% | 35.3% |
| Marshall County | 7 | 0% | 0% | 28.6% |
| Mason County | 13 | 7.7% | 0% | 23.1% |
| Massac County | 11 | 0% | 0% | 27.3% |
| McDonough County | 20 | 20% | 5% | 30% |
| McHenry County | 84 | 2.4% | 7.1% | 27.4% |
| McLean County | 174 | 1.7% | 1.1% | 29.3% |
| Menard County | 4 | 0% | 0% | 50% |
| Mercer County | 10 | 0% | 0% | 10% |
| Monroe County | 7 | 0% | 14.3% | 42.9% |
| Montgomery County | 36 | 0% | 0% | 47.2% |
| Morgan County | 39 | 0% | 0% | 46.2% |
| Moultrie County | 8 | 0% | 0% | 37.5% |
| Ogle County | 19 | 5.3% | 5.3% | 26.3% |
| Peoria County | 361 | 2.5% | 8% | 19.4% |
| Perry County | 23 | 8.7% | 0% | 30.4% |
| Piatt County | 12 | 16.7% | 0% | 41.7% |
| Pike County | 30 | 3.3% | 0% | 46.7% |
| Pope County | 10 | 10% | 0% | 50% |
| Pulaski County | 7 | 0% | 0% | 28.6% |
| Putnam County | 1 | 0% | 0% | 100% |
| Randolph County | 42 | 0% | 0% | 40.5% |
| Richland County | 16 | 0% | 0% | 25% |
| Rock Island County | 94 | 2.1% | 2.1% | 26.6% |
| Saline County | 42 | 4.8% | 4.8% | 21.4% |
| Sangamon County | 267 | 17.6% | 4.5% | 21.3% |
| Schuyler County | 24 | 37.5% | 0% | 8.3% |
| Scott County | 5 | 20% | 0% | 20% |
| Shelby County | 17 | 0% | 5.9% | 52.9% |
| St. Clair County | 406 | 2% | 4.4% | 15.3% |
| Stark County | 7 | 0% | 14.3% | 28.6% |
| Stephenson County | 33 | 0% | 3% | 12.1% |
| Tazewell County | 115 | 4.3% | 4.3% | 18.3% |
| Union County | 18 | 5.6% | 0% | 55.6% |
| Vermilion County | 110 | 1.8% | 3.6% | 17.3% |
| Wabash County | 12 | 0% | 0% | 25% |
| Warren County | 13 | 0% | 0% | 23.1% |
| Washington County | 4 | 0% | 0% | 25% |
| Wayne County | 15 | 0% | 0% | 40% |
| White County | 27 | 0% | 3.7% | 33.3% |
| Whiteside County | 40 | 2.5% | 7.5% | 20% |
| Will County | 273 | 3.3% | 5.9% | 18.3% |
| Williamson County | 63 | 1.6% | 1.6% | 19% |
| Winnebago County | 503 | 6.8% | 3.2% | 12.5% |
| Woodford County | 26 | 11.5% | 0% | 30.8% |
