West Central Reporter

There are four inmates sentenced in Pike County set to be released from prison in September, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Steven M. Wooldridge, who served the longest sentence among them, spent more than five years incarcerated for an offense recorded as 'residential burglary'.

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.

Another study by the Prison Policy Initiative highlighted that the number of unconvicted individuals was more than two times higher than that of convicted individuals, possibly one of the leading causes of prison population growth in the state.

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
Lisa Dempsey	POSSESSION OF METH< 5 GRAMS	09/09/2025	Logan Correctional Center
Seth H. Colbert	CRIM SEX ASSAULT/FORCE	09/12/2025	Centralia Correctional Center
Emir Cave	CHILD SEX OFFENDER/PUBLIC PARK	09/22/2025	Big Muddy River Correctional Center
Steven M. Wooldridge	RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY	09/30/2025	Stateville Correctional Center