By AP/St. Louis Public Radio
Springfield, Ill. – Gov. Pat Quinn is reviewing the Illinois prison system's early release program after The Associated Press reported some inmates are serving less than three weeks of yearlong sentences. Quinn suspended early releases Sunday and called for a "top-to-bottom" review.
His staff will scrutinize an unpublicized change in corrections department policy that awarded good-conduct time upfront and abandoned a requirement that inmates
serve at least 61 days. That change outraged many law enforcement officials when they learned about it.
More than 850 nonviolent offenders have been released early from state prisons since September as part of an effort to cut costs. Their average stay in state prison was 16 days. Combined with time they spent in county jails, they served less than half the sentences courts ordered them to serve.