By Dan Rozek
The Chicago Sun-Times
LAKE COUNTY, Ill. — Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran plans to take an inside look at the 600-bed jail he runs -- by living there as an inmate.
Curran announced Tuesday he will spend a week inside the Lake County Jail in downtown Waukegan.
But Curran didn’t disclose in his written announcement why he plans to live as an inmate in the jail -- beginning today -- or what he hopes to accomplish during his stay.
Curran, 45, a former prosecutor elected sheriff in 2006, couldn’t be reached Tuesday for comment, though he has scheduled a news conference today to explain the unusual move.
Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Christopher Thompson declined to answer questions about the jail stay.
Curran, though, has shown a strong interest in jail and correctional programs since being elected, including visiting the notorious Angola State Penitentiary in Louisiana to gauge how faith-based education and counseling programs work there.
The sheriff also has taken a hands-on approach to his job, including passing a 12-week police academy course last year that qualified him to become a police officer.
Curran hadn’t worked as a police officer before being elected sheriff -- he instead served as a Lake County prosecutor and assistant Illinois attorney general before going into a private legal practice.
Curran is eager to see for himself how the jail operates and whether programs aimed at deterring inmates from repeated arrests are effective, a law enforcement source said.
“He wants to see how the jail runs from the inside,” the source said.
Copyright 2008 The Chicago Sun-Times