Eleven Participants Graduate Will County Adult Redeploy Illinois Program

May 29, 2019

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow has announced that eleven defendants who committed non-violent crimes have graduated from Will County Adult Redeploy Illinois (ARI), a program that seeks to keep non-violent offenders out of state prisons through counseling, substance abuse treatment, mental health therapy, and job location services.

Individuals from Joliet, Rockdale, Shorewood, and Lockport graduated from the program in a May 29 ceremony at the Will County Office Building. Each of these individuals had pled guilty up front to various nonviolent offenses, such as retail theft, to participate in the intensive 18-month program that helps them avoid a prison sentence. The event brings to 25 the number of individuals who have graduated from the Will County ARI Court. This was the third graduating class, and the largest to date.

“Through Will County ARI, defendants are empowered to change their behavior, seek gainful employment, and become productive citizens who contribute to our community,” Glasgow said. “This program not only saves taxpayer dollars by rehabilitating individuals who may otherwise have cycled in and out of the criminal justice system; it has turned the lives around for the participating individuals and given them another chance.”

Also participating in the ceremony were Judge Daniel Rippy, who presides over the ARI docket; Mary Ann Dyar, ARI Program Director for the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority; and Problem Solving Court Coordinator Julie McCabe Sterr of the State’s Attorney’s Office.

Glasgow spearheaded the creation of the Will County ARI Court in 2015. The Court was recognized at the national level by the National Association of Counties with the 2018 Achievement Award. Glasgow also was instrumental in establishing the Will County Drug Court, Veterans Court, and Mental Health Court. 

1. State’s Attorney James Glasgow speaks to participants and attendees at the Will County Adult Redeploy Illinois graduation.

2. State’s Attorney James Glasgow commends Problem Solving Court Coordinator Julie McCabe Sterr on her integral role in working with participants of the Will County Problem Solving Courts program.