Senate Bill 3368 will ensure former inmates leaving Illinois’ prisons have state-issued identification, which will assist their re-entry into their communities and make it easier for them to apply for jobs or housing.

The state initiative has both saved taxpayer money and given offenders the opportunity to break the cycle of incarceration.

Research shows Hardin, Macon and Marion Counties lead the state in prison admissions per 10,000 residents.

On Aug. 22, Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into law a bill that prevents the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation from using irrelevant criminal convictions as a basis for denying licenses to applicants seeking to work as barbers, cosmetologists, hair braiders, estheticians, nail technicians, roofing business owners or funeral directors.

By investing in community-based programs that treat nonviolent offenders’ drug and mental health problems, Illinois can avoid more costly expenditures on incarceration.

Experts analyze policy recommendations designed to make Illinois’ criminal-justice system fairer and more cost-effective.

Illinois jails book over 2.6 times the number of people they did in 1981, costing taxpayers money and keeping many people who have not yet been convicted of crimes behind bars.

Illinois can save thousands per inmate by expanding cost-effective alternatives to prison for nonviolent offenders.