Check Western Illinois Releases

Western Illinois Release Meanings

Leaving Western Illinois Correctional Center does not always mean freedom from custody. A person may be released from prison to parole or mandatory supervised release, called MSR. The person then lives outside the institution but remains in IDOC legal custody until discharge. Another person may reach sentence completion and final discharge. A move to Clayton Work Camp, another IDOC prison, federal authority, or another custodian is a transfer.

The record must name the event. “Paroled” describes release from prison to supervision. “Discharged” means the IDOC sentence authority has ended. “Transferred” means confinement or legal custody continues elsewhere. A projected parole or discharge date is only an estimate and cannot prove that an event occurred.

Search Western Illinois Release Records

Open the IDOC Individual in Custody Search or its working search form. Search by last name, IDOC number, or birthdate in the format shown. Compare the result's name, date of birth, and IDOC number before opening the full profile. Similar names can otherwise produce a false match.

1. Choose last name, IDOC number, or birthdate as the search route.
2. Match identity fields before selecting a result.
3. Read Offender Status with Parent Institution and Location.
4. Separate projected dates from Parole Date or Last Paroled Date.
5. Check whether each sentence line says it is discharged.

The strongest public evidence of release from prison to supervision is a PAROLE status, a parole-district location, and an actual Parole Date or Last Paroled Date. A future Projected Parole Date does not show release. An incarcerated status at a new location points to transfer, not community release.

Western Illinois Search Fields

IDOC profiles combine current placement, sentence, identity, and projected date data. Read related fields together. Parent Institution is an administrative assignment and Location is the reported placement. Neither alone proves the institution from which a past release occurred.

Sentence entries can also show mittimus, offense, class, count, custody date, term, and county. A mittimus is the court commitment document. These facts help distinguish a Brown County sentence from a person who merely resides at a prison located in the county.

Western Illinois Archive Fallback

IDOC says its public search displays people who are incarcerated or on parole. A person whose sentence is complete may disappear from the public results. Absence is therefore not proof of no prison history or no discharge. Search alternate spelling and the IDOC number first, then use an archived-record request.

The IDOC FOIA office can receive a focused request for releasable admission, actual parole or release date, final discharge date, status, IDOC number, and sentencing information. Include the full name, birthdate, IDOC number if known, and the date fields needed. Ask separately about institution history if it is important to prove Western Illinois placement.

PRB decisions may support a parole, revocation, or early or final discharge action when that board had a role. The sentencing court can provide the mittimus and disposition. Those records corroborate the IDOC dates but do not replace the agency's own custody transaction.

Western Illinois Facility Facts

The official Western Illinois facility page identifies a medium-security adult male prison. It opened in April 1989 and serves as the parent institution for Clayton Work Camp. The page reported an operational capacity of 2,123 and a population of 1,442 as of June 30, 2024. These are dated snapshots, not a claim about the current count.

The official manifest image captures the same prison and work-camp facts. View the IDOC source for the captured facility page.

The image supports the institution type and parent relationship. It does not establish a release time, exit gate, or present population.

Brown County Prison Distinction

Brown County has no county jail, while Western Illinois Correctional Center sits within the county. This is Angle L's distinctive custody map. The state prison is not a substitute county jail and does not receive every person arrested by the Sheriff or Mt. Sterling Police. A court commitment and IDOC admission establish state custody.

Likewise, a person can be incarcerated at Western Illinois because of a sentence from another Illinois county. Facility location does not make it a Brown County criminal case. Check the county field in each sentence entry and the court mittimus. For local arrests, identify the actual receiving jail case by case through the arresting agency.

Clayton Work Camp is a satellite of Western Illinois, but movement between them remains an IDOC transfer. It is not community release. This distinction should appear in every account of a person leaving either institution.

Western Illinois Programs and Release

The official page lists Parole School, individual counseling, community work crews, academic and career programs, substance-abuse education, anger management, library services, and chaplaincy. These programs form a real local reentry context. They do not prove that a particular person took part, earned credit, or received a post-release placement.

IDOC's release procedures govern preparation and documents, while sentence credit depends on the offense, dates, conduct, and applicable law. Do not estimate a date by applying one fixed percentage. The current calculated IDOC profile is stronger than a hand calculation. A projected date can change because of credit decisions, discipline, court action, holds, or other lawful factors.

No official source reviewed publishes the daily release hour, public exit gate, family waiting area, property-pickup process, or weekend rule for Western Illinois. Call the institution before planning travel. West Central Mass Transit serves Brown County, but no source establishes an automatic prison-gate pickup.

Western Illinois Contact and Confirmation

Use the facility phone for current institution-specific logistics that are not posted. Use IDOC records staff for official date confirmation. A phone answer can help route the inquiry, but a written record is the stronger source for release, parole, or discharge.

For a person still shown as incarcerated, the profile is a current-custody source. For a person on parole, it can document release from prison to supervision. For a completed sentence that has vanished from search, request the archive. The Brown County release search overview explains how that state trail differs from local arrest and receiving-jail records.

Note: Always label the date as projected parole, actual parole, projected discharge, or final discharge instead of using the terms interchangeably.

Resolve Western Illinois Date Conflicts

IDOC dates answer different questions. Admission Date marks entry into the state system. Projected Parole Date is a current calculation, not proof of release. Parole Date or Last Paroled Date may document the actual move from prison to supervision. Projected Discharge Date anticipates the end of sentence authority. A sentence line marked “Sentence Discharged? NO” supports the conclusion that final discharge has not occurred.

Read those fields with status and location. An incarcerated status at another institution shows transfer. A parole status and parole-district location can support prison release to supervision. Parent Institution may remain an administrative label and should not be treated as proof that Western Illinois was the physical release site on a past date. If institution history matters, identify that field in the archive request.

Projected dates can change through sentence-credit decisions, disciplinary loss, court action, a detainer, or other lawful calculation changes. A detainer is a request or notice from another authority that may affect movement at release. Illinois sentence-credit law is offense- and date-specific, so applying one percentage to every sentence is inaccurate. Use the calculated IDOC record and cite the date it was accessed.

When the public profile disappears after completion, do not recreate a discharged status. Request the actual parole, release, and final discharge dates from IDOC. Compare them with the sentencing court's mittimus and any applicable Prisoner Review Board decision. The agency archive is strongest for IDOC's own dates, while the court record is strongest for the sentence and commitment that authorized custody.