Contempt hearings against a state agency are set in two more cases involving mentally ill Sangamon County Jail inmates who are awaiting transfer to an appropriate treatment facility.
One of the latest cases dates back to July, the other to September, when a Sangamon County judge ordered the Illinois Department of Human Services to transfer those inmates within 20 days. So far, neither those two nor nearly a dozen other county jail inmates who have been unfit to stand trial have been moved within the required time frame. The court has ordered department representatives to appear for hearings on November 17th to show why they should not be held in contempt of court.
There are now at least five pending hearings on potential contempt citations against DHS. In the past, DHS has generally avoided contempt citations by making those transfers just before the scheduled hearing… a practice which State’s Attorney Dan Wright says increases the cost to the county and the danger to jail inmates and staff.
