Illinois prisoners wrongly used as labor at fundraising for prison guards

A government watchdog has announced the findings of its investigation into the Illinois Department of Corrections employee fund, saying the IDOC used prisoners to perform tasks like shining shoes and washing cars to raise money for the fund.

The Employee Benefit Funds (EBF) are raised by employees of IDOC to fund holiday parties, funerals, golf outings and other private functions. The investigation by the state’s executive inspector general’s office found inmates had been used by IDOC employees to help them raise money for the EBF by having them perform money-making tasks like selling wood, giving haircuts, and selling plants. Using prisoners for non-public labor is against state policy.

One IDOC employee who spoke with investigators said he did not agree with the practice of using prisoners to help raise money for the private use of prison guards and other IDOC workers.

“… He felt that using inmate labor to raise funds for the EBFs is ‘bad optics,’ ‘bad ethically,’ and ‘bad morally,’” he reportedly told the IG. “He added: ‘It’s really hard for me to just honestly stomach the idea that … employees benefit from offender labor.’”

To date, only one IDOC top employee has been penalized for the findings of the investigation. Chief of Staff Edwin Bowen was suspended for 30 days and was able to appeal his suspension down to only 15 days.