Records obtained by WTTW News show a former CPS employee logged paid work hours while traveling domestically and abroad, contributing to inflated vendor bills and alleged time fraud. The investigation concluded the conduct amounted to theft under Illinois law and triggered personnel terminations across CPS and its contractor.

Under two different Illinois laws, people charged with sex offenses are subject to indefinite detention. Some people who’ve only been charged with a crime — never convicted or sentenced — can spend the rest of their lives at a correctional center.

Under two different Illinois laws, people charged with sex offenses are subject to indefinite detention. Some people who’ve already finished serving their sentences can spend the rest of their lives at a correctional center.

Over the past five years, 59 petitions have been filed with the Illinois Department of Corrections from those incarcerated in Illinois state prisons requesting transfers all over the world. Only two people have been approved, and two more are pending.

Podcasts are a new avenue for police to reach the communities they serve. A monthslong public records battle with CPD identifies the cost of the podcast “Roll Call.” It is the latest evidence of the high cost of communication staffing, which has exploded over the past decade.

Since 2023, Roseland Community Hospital has received at least four immediate jeopardy citations. That warning is the most serious deficiency a health care facility can be cited for, according to federal guidelines.

Illinois’ consolidation of suburban police and fire pension funds is beginning to pay off, with records showing improved investment returns and significant cost savings for some local governments. While challenges remain, the overhaul has boosted funding levels and eased financial pressure on communities long burdened by rising pension obligations.

OnLight Aurora, a city-supported nonprofit, aims to provide high speed internet to the west suburban community’s institutions, businesses and residents. It’s also in massive debt, with a long history of questionable expenditures.

Chicago taxpayers paid $295 million between 2019 and 2024 to resolve lawsuits naming officers whose alleged misconduct led more than once to payouts, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News. In all, the city spent $491.7 million to resolve lawsuits alleging 1,643 Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct.

Chicago Police Department officers pointed a gun at a person, on average, more than 11 times every day in 2024, according to an CPD annual report on officers’ use of force.

Chicago taxpayers paid $6.3 million to settle 54 lawsuits, according to a WTTW analysis of city records. An additional $4.5 million went to pay private lawyers to defend the conduct of CPD officers named in those lawsuits.

Even as the financial toll of decades of police misconduct is likely to grow in the coming months, Chicago exhausted its annual budget of $82.2 million months ago and had spent nearly triple that amount by July 31, according to WTTW News’ analysis.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office in western Illinois has transferred at least two men into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, in apparent violation of the state’s TRUST and Way Forward Act, according to a lawyer who helped provide technical support for the legislation.

Health care leaders across Illinois are sounding the alarm over a new federal law slashing Medicaid, warning it could force hospital closures and gut care for vulnerable residents. They’re now racing to protect services and preserve access in the face of deep funding cuts.

The amount of taxpayer funds spent on overtime by all city departments, including CPD, dropped in 2024 for the first time since 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic upended the city’s operations.

Chicago Public Schools hired a former police officer who was on the city’s do-not-hire list after he was fired for inappropriate communication with a 17-year-old girl. Newly released records reveal he submitted false work histories before landing a full-time position at Lane Tech.