(The Center Square) – Reports of prisoner mistreatment, intentionally set fires and prisoners setting themselves on fire at a Joliet correctional facility have sparked state lawmakers to demand oversight of state corrections.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker declined to address the facility’s conditions this week.
According to a recent investigation by The Marshall Project, in the last three years more than 70 fires have been started at the Joliet Treatment Center, a low-population facility that the Illinois Department of Corrections describes as a prison for “convicted adult male felons with severe mental illness.”
The fires started by inmates have resulted in the death of two inmates during that time.
Among the fires started in the three-year period were eight cases of prisoners setting themselves on fire, according to the investigation and state records.
State Sen. Rachel Ventura, D-Joliet, is one of many state lawmakers calling for an audit and stronger oversight of the prison’s conditions and IDOC.
Pritzker wouldn’t address the incidents directly Tuesday – instead deferring to IDOC and ongoing investigations. He defended his administration and associated state agencies’ oversight.
“We audit that, I mean, literally every day or, you know, at least once a year and, of course, where we have internal auditors who are auditing the way that the correction system operates,” Pritzker said.
The facility first took in inmates in 2017, and operates alongside a new facility that cost the state $150 million to build and operates as an inpatient facility for inmates.
A 2025 report by an independent corrections oversight organization, John Howard Association, detailed complaints by inmates of regular staff mistreatment and claims that some fires were set to get staff attention.
“JHA spoke with multiple people who had suffered burns after setting fires, which some said they had done to get staff attention. One of them reported feeling that the environment enabled self-harm,” the report reads. “Someone with a burn wound reported that they had not received follow-up care.”
The Marshall Project investigation revealed a wide amount of staff neglect and a failure by the prison to provide mental health treatment, as was intended by the facility when it first opened.
Pritzker referred to ongoing litigation as one of the reasons he wouldn’t comment on the conditions at the Joliet facility. The Department of Corrections currently faces a lawsuit from the Marshall Project to release reports from the dozens of fire incidents, which were refused under a public records request.
“We have discovered lots of things that we have worked on including the challenges with the facilities themselves. As you know, we're replacing some facilities,” Pritzker said. “So that plus mental health strikes me. I think we all recognize that if we want a better justice system from start to finish, we need better mental health care.”
IDOC received an allocation of nearly $2.6 billion in the 2027 state budget, and oversight of the taxpayer-funded department has also been called for after The Center Square recently reported a department payroll employee pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $125,000 by falsifying the records of her husband, another employee.
IDOC didn’t respond to a request for comment.
