UPDATE (5:18 p.m.) — The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) has complied with transport orders allowing the Knox County Sheriff to transport all five unfit defendants in the Knox County jail to IDHS mental health hospitals.
MCLEAN COUNTY, Ill. (WMBD) — Six sheriff’s offices across Illinois now have entered a temporary restraining order against Gov. JB Pritzker and the Secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) Grace Hou Thursday.
According to a press release from Knox County State’s Attorney Jeremy S. Karlin, the temporary restraining order finds that IDHS can’t rely on executive orders as a basis for failing to allow the transport of mentally-ill defendants to IDHS hospitals.
The lawsuit was originally filed by Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell on June 22, and was later joined by the sheriffs of McLean, Knox, Madison, Rock Island and Macon County.
According to the lawsuit, Pritzker and IDPH did not comply with Section 104-17 of the Illinois Code of Criminal Procedure, which requires the transportation of mentally ill inmates from county jails into state custody within 20 days.
The amended lawsuit alleges that the sheriff’s offices have incurred months of additional cost while holding inmates before being admitted into DHS custody for court-ordered psychiatric treatment.
The delay also endangers the safety of inmates and jail personnel and has reduced the likelihood of restoring unfit defendants to fitness within one year.
Mclean County Sheriff Jon Sandage has previously said that the eight inmates in county custody have cost the county more than $51,000.
The restraining order can be read here: