IDOC – $33,681.00 Christmas Party For 150-175 Employees? – One of Many!

Illinois (ECWd) –

We have been reviewing both old and new official reports from the Office of Executive Inspector General in order to get a grasp as to how bad things really are when it comes to accountability in Illinois.  One such investigation that began in June of 2017 and closed in December of 2018 was not published until 4 years later in FY 2022.  The time frame spanned two Governors, Rauner and Pritzker.

We note that there was reporting on the matter when it was released but have yet to find a single such report that linked to the actual official report, not to mention much of the reporting was a lack-luster overview that must be put into perspective. For example, the Chicago Tribune reported that “This money allowed prison guards and other IDOC employees to throw a holiday party, pay for a golf outing..”

A holiday party? A golf outing?

The truth of the matter is, while the OEIG admits all IDOC Correctional Centers and IDOC’s central administrative office have their own EBFs, and the issues raised in the complaint may not have been unique to the Pinckneyville EBF, they only expanded the investigation to examine the EBFs in three additional facilities, Springfield (not an actual facility), Sheridan, and Dixon.  While they did expand the oversight statewide, the shocking findings are based on three key facilities.  This fact makes us wonder how bad this report would have been had a real forensic audit been done statewide. (EBF- Employee Benefit Fund)

Anyone reading it will find the reporting of ‘a‘ holiday party and ‘a‘ golf outing is not the case, not to mention missing the mark on the magnitude of the abuse of inmates for personal gain, the clear ignoring of state law, and the lack of actual accountability.

Christmas Parties:

• 2016 Christmas Party in Springfield, which included $19,581.00 in hotel expenses, $8,000.00 for prizes, and a $6,100.00 check written out to the Springfield EBF Committee Chairman, allegedly for “Christmas Party CASH prizes”.  “: cash from the check was stuffed into envelopes and distributed to prizewinners at the party, who signed receipts for the amounts.”  We note that the OEIG made no mention of verification of the claimed receipts for the cash prizes given out.
• “Pinckneyville EBF Committee Chair [IDOC Employee 3] said that the Pinckneyville EBF’s largest expenditure was for Employee Appreciation Week, which involves catered meals and other food, and free soda; [IDOC Employee 3] said the EBF spends about $4,000 on this event. She said the Pinckneyville EBF also spends its funds on funeral flowers, plaques for retiring employees, Employee of the Month and Year awards, and Christmas parties, among other things.” (parties, as in plural)
• Sheridan EBF Committee Chair [IDOC Employee 4] also said that until recently, the Sheridan EBF’s largest expenditures were for employee Christmas parties, as well as employee recognition gifts; she said that the last Christmas party was held in 2015, and that the EBF paid for the alcohol, which cost about $1,500.
• Dixon EBF Committee Chair [IDOC Employee 5] said the Dixon EBF’s largest expenditures were for Employee Recognition Week, Christmas parties, and Easter egg hunts.

Golf Outings: 

• Pinckneyville -May 26, 2017 email to IDOC employee [IDOC Employee 8]: “I know our team from last year had contacted the Warden asking for the $300 sponsorship to be paid again . . . .”
• Dixon EBF expenditure of $320 on August 19, 2016 for “[Golf Event Sponsor 1] Director’s Golf Outing Fees,” and a Springfield EBF
  expenditure of $640 on August 16, 2016, for two “9/1/16 [Golf Event Sponsor 1] Golf Outing Sponsorship[s].”
• When asked about the Dixon EBF’s $320 expenditure for golf outing fees, [IDOC Employee 5] said the IDOC Director’s golf outing is a mandatory recurring expenditure that is made regardless of the EBF Committee’s approval.

Considering they only looked at a total of 4 DOC locations and confirmed they all were having Christmas parties and three were having recurring golf outings, to tell the public “This money allowed prison guards and other IDOC employees to throw a holiday party, pay for a golf outing”, misses the mark immensely.

What do you call it when you use inmate labor to perform items not allowed by law?  What do you call it when it was encouraged?

Not only was the law being violated with the use of inmate labor for personal gain, but it also violated our state constitution and possibly even federal laws. As if that is not bad enough, the Springfield office, which has no inmates, expended costly resources to have inmates brought to Springfield to use them for their EBF fundraising, which included washing their personal vehicles.  We urge everyone to read the report below.

[IDOC Senior Staff Employee 1] said he felt that using inmate labor to raise funds for the EBFs is “bad optics,” “bad ethically,” and “bad morally.” He added: “It’s really hard for me to just honestly stomach the idea that … employees benefit from offender labor.”

Cry me a river. If the Employee felt as claimed, why on earth did they not speak up and STOP what they were doing?

We, the taxpayers, will continue to pay for this malfeasance as the former Chief of Staff, Edwin Bowen, jumped ship as Chief of Staff the month before the investigation was closed and took on a union job with the DOC as noted on page 2, footnote 4.

“The OEIG learned that as of November 1, 2018, IDOC Chief of Staff Edwin Bowen was hired into a Personnel Code-covered position as Supervisor of Jail and Detention Standards at IDOC.”

According to data on Open The Books and verified with the Illinois Comptroller, Bowen’s salary in 2024 was $141,122.81.  The report indicates “Mr. Bowen said he has been the IDOC Chief of Staff since approximately June 2015, and that he previously worked at IDOC from 1988 through 2005, including as the Warden at Centralia Correctional Center.”  As everyone can see, Bowen will get a hefty pension from the state for his many years of “service”.   

“Mr. Bowen added, “If you’re looking for someone to hang the EBF on, it’s the Chief of Staff with the Director’s knowledge.”

We find the above statement about looking for someone to hang the EBF on to be meaningless.  He jumped ship before the investigation was completed. His new employment position offered union representation. Because of that fact, he was no longer an at-will Chief of Staff and could file a grievance on any attempts to hold him accountable for actions from his prior position.  The grievance worked as the whopping 30-day suspension Governor Pritzker issued was reduced to 15 days.

If anyone is serious about learning how bad things are in this state when it comes to violations of laws by some of our public employees and appointed officials, read the report and all the others posted for the world to see.  We note that not a single person other than Bowen received any punishment for all the wrongdoings in the report.

You can download a copy of the report at this link or view it below.