If you read the early threads on this message, it gives contact information for getting prisoner information. This information is not available on-line. You can either write to the
Illinois State Archives and request a look up of the records or contact
Molly Kennedy who is a researcher who is located in
Springfield, IL and can access those records as well. The
Illinois State Archives charges $10.00 for a lookup (for out of state residents) and if they find anything, they charge for photocopying and postage. Molly is probably your quickest route to the info as she visits the archives frequently. I don't remember her exact fees but they were very reasonable.
The record I obtained from the archives contained basic information on the prisoner, including family, county crime committed in, length of sentence, crime, etc. Once I knew the county, I was able to contact Circuit
Court Archives of that county to get a copy of the court records. It cost about $40 in lookup, postage, and copying fees to get that record.
You can also send an email to
info@doc.illinois.gov with the inmates name and time they were at Pontiac/Joliet and they will respond back with a one page sheet for each prison term whch shows name, prisoner number, institution, county, crime, term, date sentenced, date received, paroled and discharge date. That will eliminate the need to have a lookup done at the State Archives. I personally thought the information I got from the archives useful and worth the money I spent as it had a lot more information than the response I got from
info@doc.illinois.gov.
