Community Outreach

The goal of the Community Outreach Program is to educate the community of the Court’s functions and to encourage and facilitate community involvement in order to help the Southern District of Illinois become more aware of the needs and issues of its population and to improve the quality of life in our area. This can be achieved by increasing the number of Court and Probation family members involved in the community. Some of the court's community activities are listed below.

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Court Assisted Program (CAP)

Almost all federal offenders who are sentenced to prison are, when released, placed on supervised release. On supervised release, the Court gives offenders specific conditions that they must comply with in order to remain in the community. If offenders violate any of those conditions, they could be sent back to federal prison.

The Court Assisted Program (CAP) was instituted by the District Court and U.S. Probation Office with cooperation from the U.S. Attorney and the Federal Public Defender in Southern Illinois. The Court meets with participants of CAP twice a month to give encouragement, help with any problems, and to put a human face on the court system hoping that intervention on the front end will help individuals assimilate back into the community and prevent a return to prison. The community service component of CAP allows the ex-offenders to be a part of the communities in which they live. As a part of that community service, the CAP participants have written words of wisdom or told their stories in a “Lifestories” booklet.

Bound versions of the “Lifestories” booklet are available for educational purposes. Contact Judge Wilkerson's Chambers at (618) 482-9380 for more information.

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Cap Clothing Drive

CAP Participants, including Magistrate Judge Wilkerson, Supervising U.S. Probation Officer Timothy Keilbach, U.S. Probation Officers Crystal Mitchell and Richard Wactor, U.S. Probation Officer Intern Jasmon Sanders, Federal Public Defender's Office Investigator Brenda Tripp-Willis, and Federal Public Defender's Office Law Student Intern Callie Tucker, all assisted with sorting clothing collected during the 1st Annual CAP Clothing Drive June 17, 2010. Women's and children's clothing was delivered to the Violence Prevention Center of Southwestern Illinois. Miscellaneous clothing was delivered to Community Hope Center and dress attire was donated to Connections for Success.

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Annual Blood Drive

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois participates in an annual American Red Cross blood drive.

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Make a Difference Day

Volunteers from the U.S. Probation Office, U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the U.S. District Court spruced up the Christian Activity Center Playground in East St. Louis, Illinois, on October 14, 2012. The project included cleaning playground equipment, landscaping, and painting.

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