Lake County Jail awarded national accreditation

WAUKEGAN – Thomas Stickrath, chairperson of the Commission on Accreditation for Corrections, and David Haasenritter, director of standards and accreditation at the American Correctional Association, recently announced the accreditation of the Lake County Adult Correctional Facility.

The award was presented in conjunction with the American Correctional Association 153rd Congress of Correction in Philadelphia.

Stickrath and Denise Robinson, president of the American Correctional Association, complimented the facility on its professional level of operation and its success in completing the accreditation process. The agency is one of more than 1,500 correctional organizations involved in accreditation across the nation.

The accreditation program is a professional peer review process based on national standards that have evolved since the founding of the association in 1870. The standards were developed by national leaders from the field of corrections, law, architecture, health care and other groups who are interested in sound correctional management.

“I am extremely proud of our staff who work in the Corrections Division and this significant accomplishment,” Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg said in a news release. “The career of a correctional officer, while certainly stressful and difficult at times, can also be very rewarding. Our correctional staff place the highest emphasis on the value of life and work to make a positive impact on the lives of those who will leave the jail and reenter our society so they have the best chance of success versus recidivism.”

The three-year accreditation award granted to the Lake County Adult Correctional Facility does not signal the end of its involvement in the accreditation process. During the award period, staff will continually evaluate themselves and maintain continuous compliance with the standards.