Prisons and jails are not free to run however they choose when it comes to sexual abuse. The Prison Rape Elimination Act sets standards a facility is required to meet. When someone is abused in custody, those standards help frame the question of whether the facility did what it was supposed to do.
You do not need to have reported the abuse, and nobody needs to have been charged. A civil claim asks what the Department of Corrections or the county knew, what it should have known, and what it did.
Attorney Ervin Nevitt, a partner at Coplan + Crane, reviews these cases. He is registered with the Illinois bar (6319808) and was admitted in 2014.
A different framework for adult custody
Adult custody claims run under a different framework from juvenile ones. The Prison Rape Elimination Act is part of that framework, setting out what facilities must do.
Failure to protect
The theory that most often carries these claims is failure to protect. In practice, several theories run together, and which one fits is a question about your facts rather than a category. These claims are usually brought against the Department of Corrections or the county, rather than only against the individual.
Who the defendant is
Whether the facility is state-run or county-run decides the defendant, and the two carry different notice and immunity requirements. Because the responsible body is usually public, identifying which one matters first.
State-law claims against the Department of Corrections are brought against the State in the Illinois Court of Claims. Claims against a county jail fall under the Illinois Tort Immunity Act. Many custody claims are also brought as federal civil-rights claims, and anyone still incarcerated must usually complete the facility's grievance process before filing one. That step should not be skipped.
Common Questions Around PREA and Custody Claims
Does someone have to have been convicted? No. A civil case uses a lower standard of proof than a criminal one and is usually brought against the institution rather than the individual.
I am asking for someone else. That is fine and it happens often. The person involved has no obligation to do anything.
What if I only remember part of it? That is ordinary. These cases are built from institutional records rather than from a complete account.
What happens when you contact us
Nothing starts because you ask a question. You speak with a person, not an intake script, and you do not have to describe what happened. We look into which institution was responsible, what it knew, what records exist, and whether a claim can still be brought. That work costs you nothing.
We tell you plainly what is possible. If you decide not to go ahead, it ends there, and what you told us stays confidential. If you go ahead, we carry the filings, deadlines, records, and the institution's insurers. Steps can be taken to protect your identity in the court record.
Call (708) 671-6858 for a free, confidential case review.
