It’s not often that Menard County Jail has a detainee who has been found unfit for trial.

The jail, just north of Springfield, is small. With a census that can hover around 10 people or less, and just a few correctional staff on a given shift, mental health care is limited. In 2024, the man who was declared unfit refused to shower and spread feces throughout his cell.

“He needed the help,” said Sheriff Mark Oller. “We didn't know what to do.”

Oller drove the man to Kankakee County where he became one of the first defendants to participate in Kankakee’s pilot program to house unfit detainees from other counties who are awaiting a bed at a state psychiatric hospital.

The program aims to provide relief to smaller jails, offer detainees from smaller facilities better access to treatment an

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