West Central Reporter

There are seven inmates sentenced in Pike County set to be released from jail in March, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

James Kurtz, who served the longest sentence among them, spent more than three years incarcerated for possession of meth under 5 grams.

According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, Illinois spends about $45,828 a year per incarcerated person. In a 2023 study by the Prison Policy Initiative, the state's incarceration rate was at 433 per 100,000, higher than every industrialized country, except the United States. When compared with its surrounding states, Illinois was the lowest. Kentucky and Missouri have rates over 700 per 100,000.

One of the reasons behind jail growth is how pretrial detainees are handled. Another study by the Prison Policy Initiative noted that the number of unconvicted individuals was more than two times higher than convicted individuals.

Most prison inmates are released on some condition of supervised monitoring upon reentering civilian life. This monitoring can last from one year to the rest of someone’s life.

Name	Offense	Supervised Release Date	Holding Facility
James Kurtz	POSS OF METH < 5 GRAMS	03/01/2025	Illinois River Correctional Center
Hayle Eller	THEFT >$10,000-$100,000	03/03/2025	Decatur Correctional Center
William Heaton	DRIVING RVK/SUSP DUI/SSS 4-9	03/11/2025	Lincoln Correctional Center
Dustin Fulmer	POSS AMT CON SUB EXCEPT(A)/(D)	03/12/2025	Lincoln Correctional Center
Edward E. Hull	POSS OF METH < 5 GRAMS	03/14/2025	Robinson Correctional Center
Mark Tischer	POSSESSION OF METH< 5 GRAMS	03/19/2025	Lincoln Correctional Center
Ryan L. Runser	AGG DUI/3/PASS <16	03/27/2025	Pinckneyville Correctional Center