Lake County jail passes state audit

The Lake County Sheriff's Office has passed its annual audit conducted by the Illinois Department of Corrections, officials announced Thursday.

During the inspection, IDOC auditors thoroughly evaluated the jail in more than 330 different categories, according to the sheriff's office.

Several achievements were recognized, including the jail receiving accreditation from the National Commission on Correctional Health Care; its receiving a grant from the MacArthur Foundation to reduce recidivism in county jails; the addition of instructors to expand GED programs; the installation of new automated external defibrillators; and the installation of new cameras to increase the safety of correctional officers and inmates.

This year from January through August, the jail housed an average 627 inmates per day, conducted over 9,500 inmate transports for various court hearings and served over 560,000 inmate meals, according to the sheriff's office.