EAST MOLINE Correctional Center

[Ricks Ma]

WOW, Thanks, I've still been sending in $50 at a time. I guess I need to check the requirements more often. This will make it so much easier. Sorry about sending bad information.

[Courage]

Thanks for all the information! I will probably do Western Union this time and just plan ahead in the future and send money orders to save on costs.

[Courage]

I received my first call today from my husband, it was great to hear his voice! Though it was very hard to hear him because of the bad phones. I had to ask him to repeat himself several times but he just wanted to talk so I just let him talk and tried to make out what he was saying. I know that he is still in intake and I don't think he has seen a counselor yet. He said it was very crowded. Could anybody tell me what type of programs they have to offer there that their LO's have been in? I have looked at the website but I know that they are not always accurate. I guess specifically about the work camp? I would like to be able to give him some information on what he should try to do while he is there so he can get out quicker.

[Ricks Ma]

I don't know of anything that will help him to get an earlier release. I understand the work camp is probably the best plac
e to be, however, that is changing now due to the overcrowding. And it has also had some new requirements. My LO was there, but after the escape, he got moved out along with many others. No consideration is being given now to their behavior while incarcerated. It went from being a decent place to be to just another prison. We have another 10 months, and i'm praying he can maintain his sanity that long. He is really down because of being 'demoted' back to general population after the work camp, for no reason other than the escape.






 Could anybody tell me what type of programs they have to offer there that their LO's have been in? I have looked at the website but I know that they are not always accurate. I guess specifically about the work camp? I would like to be able to give him some information on what he should try to do while he is there so he can get out quicker.

[waitingagain]

Hello,
Just found out this morning that my L/O was transferred to EM. Does any know how long it will take to get the phone and visiting list approved and does any one have any updated information on how things are for the inmates at EM?

thanks
waitingagain

[Courage]

My husband went to East Moline and it took 1-2 weeks before the phone list was approved. I'm not sure about the visiting list because I have only been there once and it was months after he got there. The main complaint he has is there isn't very many programs to get into. He got there in October and didn't start his first class until February and after he finishes this program he won't have enough time left to get into another program. They were supposed to start a program that took less time and he was signed up for it but they fired the instructor before the class could even start. If you want any more information just let me know.

[waitingagain]

Courage,
Thank you for the reply. Kinda sad to here about the classes..My brother transferred to EM to be able to take more classes. We were told that they were still running a bunch of classes. OH well...

I am not sure where you live I am near O'Hare Airport, but if you ever want to share a ride to EM I can let you know when I will be going to see my brother.


waitingagain

[Courage]

Waiting Again,
Thanks for the offer to carpool but I live in Central Illinois so I think we will be going in two different directions. If you think of any more questions don't hesitate to ask.

[waitingagain]

Thanks again Courage. He was able to call today, but they said they will most likely cut it off until his phone list is approved by them. He is in the large dorm for processing and is hoping to go to a 2 man cell, but who knows. He said they seem a little stricter there on certain things, but we are hoping it's better than Dixon at least for him. 

Do you know how the mail is from EM? I use to get letters from Dixon in 1-2 days, but he said that he was told that mail and adding money on the books is slower than most places. I am not sure how it could be slower I always use western union.

Have a great weekend
waitingagain.

[Courage]

I'm glad he was able to call you! I think the prison is mainly dorm style rooms with a few 2 man cells. Luckily my husband was able to get into a 2 man cell so he was very happy about that. Hopefully your brother will get one too. My husband got there right after they had a prisoner escape and the inmates that were there before the escape said they were very lax but became a lot stricter after the escape.
Recently mail has been taking 2-3 weeks but before that it was just a couple of days. It sounds like they have either fired a bunch of people or they quit because things have been a lot slower for the past couple of months. Our mail did not even take longer around the holidays so I thought we were pretty lucky.
I use JPay and he always gets his money on time. Normally I can send it the day before he needs it by 2pm and he has always gotten it on time. Last month when I sent him money, they did not give him a slip letting him know that he had money on his books but it was there. I will probably send him money a couple of days before he needs it so I know that he will get it. The other thing that stinks is they keep changing their commissary days. They might tell him that he will get to go on a Friday but when Friday comes they changed it to Monday. The frequency of how often they get to go to commissary changes every week too so it makes it harder to plan.
His main focus is to do whatever he needs to so he can get out quicker so he's real bummed about the classes. Hopefully they will hire more people to teach these classes but we aren't holding our breathe. I hope your brother likes it better than Dixon. Good luck to you and your brother!