The mission of the Illinois Innocence Project (IIP), founded in 2001 at the University of Illinois Springfield, is three-pronged:

I. Legal Advocacy — IIP works to exonerate innocent men and women who were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned in Illinois for crimes they did not commit. II. Reform — IIP works toward reforms of the Illinois criminal justice system to prevent miscarriages of justice and to ensure people who have committed unlawful acts are brought to justice when someone else is convicted in their place. III. Education — IIP educates students, the public, and law enforcement about wrongful convictions, why they occur, and how to prevent them.