ROBERT H. LOWER, Claimant, u. THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Respondent.

Case summary

Claimant, an inmate, sought reimbursement for personal property lost while in the State's possession. The court found the State liable as a bailee for failing to exercise due care and awarded $64.00.

Claim type: Inmate Property

AI-generated summary from the opinion text — may contain errors. The opinion text and PDF above are the official record.

Headnotes

WILLIAM J. SCOTT, Attorney General (WILLIAM E. WEBBER, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel), for Respondent.
P RISONERS AND INMATES-property loss- generally. The claimant was entitled to be reimbursed for the fair value of certain personal property of which he was possessed while incarcerated where the property was taken into the possession of the State and thereafter lost or stolen.

ROBERT H. LOWER, pro se, for Claimant.

POCH,J.

Claimant, an inmate of an Illinois penal institution, has brought this action to recover the value of certain items of personal property of which he was allegedly possessed while incarcerated. Claimant contends that the property in question was lost while in the actual physical possession of the State of Illinois, and that the State is liable as a bailee for the return of that property.

There is little dispute in the record that the property was taken into the possession of respondent and thereafter lost or stolen. Respondent failed to introduce any evidence tending to demonstrate the exercise of due care. Therefore, the Claimant is entitled to be reimbursed for the fair value of said property which the record has established as $64.00.

It is hereby ordered that the Claimant be and the same is hereby awarded the sum of $64.00.