The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Kevin John Olickal, D-Chicago, would create an independent corrections ombudsperson tasked with inspecting state detention facilities, investigating unresolved complaints from incarcerated people, their families and prison staff, tracking data on deaths, assaults, lockdowns and staffing vacancies, and issuing public reports.

"The need for this oversight is clear," Olickal said during a Tuesday hearing before the Illinois House Restorative Justice & Public Safety Committee. "Under our current system, we are relying on IDOC to investigate complaints about IDOC. We are asking the department to hold itself accountable, and that is not a sufficient hurdle."

The proposal comes as the department faces persistent allegations of inadequate medical care, poor living conditions and a lack of transparency. A Chicago Sun-Times investigation published in February found that critically understaffed facilities struggle to provide proper correctional medicine to the tens of thousands of people in state custody.

Olickal acknowledged the department's operational challenges but said they do not justify constitutional failures. "I recognize that IDOC faces significant challenges, particularly when it comes to staffing and resources, but these operational deficiencies cannot excuse failures to uphold constitutional protections or ensure basic safety," he said.

Nineteen states and Washington, D.C., already have ombudspersons overseeing their corrections departments. Illinois created a similar office for its Department of Juvenile Justice in 2014. Olickal said it is time to extend that accountability to adult facilities.

Jennifer Vollen-Katz, director of the John Howard Association, the state's only independent prison oversight organization, told lawmakers her group is permitted inside facilities to gather information but lacks key powers. "We are unable to investigate. We are unable to show up unannounced. Have access 24/7," she said. "We lack the mandate that allows for robust oversight that can make an even bigger difference in our prison system, both for the people who are incarcerated and the people who work inside our facilities."

Byron Merriwether of Restore Justice said the current grievance process fails incarcerated people. "A grievance is the only way for an individual and IDOC to address their problems when they're being mistreated by staff," he said. "But this process is ineffective due to the grievance being thrown away, ignored or not being investigated."

IDOC Director Latoya Hughes defended the department's existing accountability structure, appearing at the hearing with her chief inspector, chief of compliance and chief of investigations. "Oversight is important," Hughes said. "An additional oversight entity is not necessary when IDOC is subject to already extensive, multilayered oversight from independent external entities, the courts, federal regulatory requirements and our own internal compliance functions."

Hughes argued that a new ombudsperson office would divert resources from those existing functions and called instead for more direct support for the department.

The bill remains in committee, with no vote scheduled yet. Supporters say independent oversight would give incarcerated people and their families a meaningful avenue to raise concerns outside the department's internal process, while opponents contend it would duplicate work and drain resources from frontline operations.