McLean County Jail

Five criminal cases were dismissed against a Bloomington man on Friday after the state acknowledged his mental health diagnosis and clean police record since a state human rights report criticized his treatment at the McLean County jail.

As a senior case worker at Labyrinth, YWCA McLean County’s transitional housing program for formerly incarcerated women, Vera Traver has witnessed the devastating effects of cash bail.

But she’s also lived them as a formerly incarcerated woman herself.

This is the first general election when Illinois jails are required to give detainees the opportunity to vote. But early signs show little change in how many ballots are actually cast from behind bars.

The rights of a McLean County jail inmate were violated after medical staff failed to give him medication  needed for his epilepsy, according to a substantiated complaint filed with the Regional Human Rights Authority (HRA) of the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission.

The crowding of the McLean County Jail, and its relationship to a COVID-19 outbreak there, took center stage at Tuesday’s county board justice committee meeting.

UPDATED 8:45 p.m. | Two more inmates and two employees have now tested positive for COVID-19 at the McLean County jail, Sheriff Jon Sandage said Monday.

All inmates and staff at the McLean County jail will be tested for COVID-19 after an inmate who has been awaiting transfer to a state prison recently tested positive, officials said Wednesday.

Five McLean County jail inmates are among scores of defendants whose court-ordered transfer to a state mental health facility has been delayed because of COVID-19.

McLean County Sheriff Jon Sandage has announced the county jail will allow visitors again starting Monday.

McLean County Sheriff Jon Sandage has placed the jail on a 23-hour-per-day lockdown since last week to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The number of inmates held at the McLean County jail dropped to 153 this week as most low-level offenders are processed on the street without a trip to jail, a move aimed to lower the risk of the coronavirus spreading to the county detention center.

UPDATED 6 a.m. | McLean County sheriff's police said early Saturday they had captured Thomas Benge and he was taken back into custody. Benge is being held at the McLean County jail.

Months after McLean County opened a $40 million jail expansion, the county is still having to send some inmates to other counties, though jail officials say that should be temporary.

Illinois State Troopers seized 143 pounds of cannabis just south of Bloomington this week and a lot more.

Amber Widner of Bozeman, Mont., was stopped on I-74 Wednesday after committing a traffic violation. During the stop, a state police canine alerted to the odor of illegal drugs.

Troopers also recovered 14 pounds of mushrooms, and 9 pounds of cannabis wax. That's a concentrate of cannabis that has the consistency of ear wax. It is also known as butane hash oil because it is made with a butane extraction.

The Bloomington-Normal chapter of Black Lives Matter is teaming up with the McLean County Democrats for a Father’s Day bailout fundraising event this weekend.

McLean County officials cut the ribbon Tuesday on a nearly $40 million jail expansion.