Hearings draw opposition to closing four downstate prison facilities

A state legislative commission held public hearings in three downstate towns this week on the Illinois Department of Corrections’ plan to close four low-level facilities.^{1, 2} It heard objections from union representatives, local officials and lawmakers of both chambers.^{1, 2}

The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability met Wednesday at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds and Thursday in White Hall and Camp Point, according to Capitol News Illinois and The Quincy Herald-Whig.^{1, 2} The plan would close the Clayton and Greene County work camps and the impact programs at Du Quoin and Dixon Springs.¹

The department says the closures would save a combined $35.9 million in capital costs and $6.5 million a year in operating expenses.^{1, 3} The commission will hold a final hearing in Springfield during the General Assembly’s veto session in November and then vote on a recommendation.^{1, 2}

The department’s case

The department announced the plan in August.³ It said then that referrals to impact programs had declined significantly since 2020, that work camp populations had also fallen, and that the Clayton camp needed significant structural repairs and was at risk of becoming inoperable, the Herald-Whig reported.³

Corrections Director Latoya Hughes told the commission at Du Quoin that “this closure is a consolidation of services, not a reduction,” Capitol News Illinois reported.¹ “There are no layoffs that will occur as a part of this process,” she said.¹ She said current employees would be reassigned and the department would honor its union contracts, Capitol News Illinois reported.¹

At Camp Point, department officials said the decision comes down to saving money, the Herald-Whig reported.² Chief Financial Officer James Deen said the state had approved $2.8 billion for facility work but that only $550 million of it had been appropriated so far, according to the newspaper.²

The objections

Ty Petersen, a staff representative for AFSCME Council 31, said at Du Quoin: “We have given up on the opportunity to change people’s lives in the Illinois Department of Corrections.”¹ Another council representative, Chuck Stout, said the union had been told the facilities might be repurposed but believed “their intention was to close them all along,” Capitol News Illinois reported.¹

State Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, said “it looks very much like the intention was to get rid of it rather than trying to make the program work,” Capitol News Illinois reported.¹ Jennifer Parrack, the department’s chief of programs and support services, told the commission: “I would like to see more people sentenced to the impact incarceration program.”¹ Parrack said she speaks about the program at conferences, and Bryant asked her to send documents backing that up.¹

Du Quoin Mayor Josh Downs urged the state not to let the empty property “sit, go to waste, cave in on itself,” Capitol News Illinois reported.¹ Michael Crum, the department’s chief compliance officer, said it would work with the Department of Central Management Services on the site after closing, the news service reported.¹

Two kinds of facilities

The Du Quoin Impact Program opened in 1994, according to Capitol News Illinois, which describes impact programs as giving some young and low-level offenders shorter sentences in exchange for training, education and work.¹ No one is held at Du Quoin now.¹ Hughes said the closure would make permanent a temporary move of its residents to the Murphysboro Life Skills Re-Entry Center, Capitol News Illinois reported.¹ WSIU reported that staff assigned to Du Quoin will be reassigned to the Pinckneyville Correctional Center.⁴

The Clayton Work Camp, a minimum-security site, opened in 1993 in a former school and houses about 20 men with nearly 50 staff, the Herald-Whig reported.² Department officials testified that its residents would move to Western Illinois Correctional Center in Mount Sterling, about 12 miles away, the newspaper reported.²

About 70 people attended the Clayton hearing, the Herald-Whig reported.² Sen. Jil Tracy, R-Quincy, opened by asking whether work programs would still be offered if the camp closed, and department officials said work release would continue, according to the Herald-Whig.² Rep. Kyle Moore, R-Quincy, asked why the department’s annual budget did not account for deferred maintenance, the newspaper reported.²

What happens next

The commission’s final hearing will be held in Springfield during the veto session in November, Capitol News Illinois and the Herald-Whig reported.^{1, 2} No decision has been made on any of the four facilities, and the commission’s recommendation will not bind the department.^{2, 1}