Historically, prisoners have been included in the census population count according to the municipality where the prison they’re housed in is located.
Historically, prisoners have been included in the census population count according to the municipality where the prison they’re housed in is located. That could change this year. If state Rep. LaShawn Ford, D-8th Dist., has his way new legislation he introduced this month would instead allow a prisoner to be counted as part of his hometown and not the rural town where most Illinois prisons are located. Ford said HB 4650 addresses a prisoner’s right to be claimed by their hometown where they have friends and family. “Counting prisoners at the location of the prison unfairly skews population distribution figures, especially when they may only be there for a few months, and makes sparsely populated rural areas appear to have more residents,” he explained. “When we get down to redrawing state and congressional districts, we owe it to Illinois residents to do the best job possible in determining where people are living so that areas with high rates of incarceration don’t lose out even more when it comes to determining their representatives at the state and national level.” The U.S. Census Bureau granted Illinois and other states the authority to decide which town would claim prisoners as residents. At least $300 million in federal dollars will be disbursed to the Black community based upon census results, said Stanley Moore, regional director for the U.S. Census Bureau. And since its inception in 1790, when the first census was taken in the United States, the data has been used to determine a wide range of funding needs, he explained. If signed into law the bill would require state and federal prison authorities to report to the Illinois Secretary of State’s office the name, age, gender, race and last pre-incarceration address of each prisoner in custody. The data would then be used to prepare an adjusted population distribution count that removes the prisoner from the residency count of the prison location and adds them to the count of their last known residence location. The Austin community on the West Side is within Ford’s district and supporters of the bill said there’s a good chance Gov. Pat Quinn will sign the bill since he lives in Austin. “I know he wouldn’t want to see his community lose out on federal dollars because so many brothers and sisters were counted by some small, white town,” said Eric James, 43, an Austin resident who recently applied for the vacant 29th Ward alderman seat. But opponents are waging their own campaign to keep things the way they have been for years. They point out that the small towns where many state prisons are located depend on those federal dollars to remain viable. “Big cities like Chicago (are) not hurting for dollars like other Illinois cities. Small and poor cities needs all the extra help it can get and more federal tax dollars from the census is a good start,” said Denise Starks, 38, a former correctional officer at Stateville Correctional Center in Joilet. “Prisons create jobs and boost the local economy because friends and families travel here to see their loved ones and while in town they spend money.” According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, its prison population is around 45,000 and Blacks make up the majority population with most coming from Cook County. The bill has already passed the House State Government Administration Committee and is currently before the full House for further consideration. Copyright 2010 Chicago Defender
