Crime & Traffic

Resources for recently released individuals returning from prison, including organizations that offer housing, education, employment, and other services for people with criminal records.

Explains what you need to do to talk to or visit with someone who is in an Illinois prison.

Learn about parole and other forms of release from prison. Includes the parole process, mandatory supervised release (MSR), and sentence credit.

Describes what rights people who get arrested have while in custody. Explains what you're allowed to do when interacting with law enforcement and what they are allowed to do to you.

Learn how executive clemency works, including pardons, sentence commutations, and expungement. Find out who qualifies and what a pardon does or doesn't do.

Explains how to divorce your spouse if they are in jail or in prison.

Steps to file a petition after appealing your case from where to file the petition for your evidentiary hearing. If the issue could have been raised in the appellate court and was not, you typically cannot raise the issue in a post-conviction petition. Details about time limitations covered.

Explains what to include in your request for a pardon.

Steps to file a writ of habeas corpus to challenge why you are in prison.

Details the process for filing a grievance in an Illinois Department of Corrections facility. Describes ways you can advocate for your loved one's medical care.

Use the form to ask for executive clemency from the Illinois Governor.