Four downstate work camps to close despite past promises, lawmaker says
(The Center Square) – The Illinois Department of Corrections plans to close four downstate work camps, which provide low-level offenders a chance to work within the surrounding community and be reintegrated into society in a controlled manner.
Some state lawmakers have been critical of the department and governor for committing to close the facilities, which also provide labor for their surrounding communities.
In 2020, the work camp in Green County was left stripped of most staff and inmates. It was temporarily closed in 2023, along with the Dixon Springs and DuQuoin Impact Programs.
The state’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability held multiple public hearings downstate last week to review the proposed closures since IDOC isn’t required to because of the small number of employees.
Co-Chair of COGFA, Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville, said the department told lawmakers as recently as May they wouldn’t be closing the facility.
“They did temporary closures with a memorandum of understanding with AFSCME [in 2020]. And they specifically said multiple times there is no plan to close these facilities,” Davidsmeyer said. “Then we have budget hearings this year and the department says ‘we have no plan to close any facilities.’ That was back in May.”
In an August news release, the department announced the facility closures, including the Clayton County work camp, would mean the state won’t have to spend $35.9 million for facility improvements and other capital costs, alongside saving $6.5 million annually in operating costs.
Davidsmeyer argued the Clayton closure offers minimal savings and reverses rehabilitation goals.
“They said that by closing it, they’ll save $500,000, which in the grand scheme of things is not very much,” Davidsmeyer said. “I think on a scale of one to eight, one being the worst offenders, eight being the lowest. These individuals in the work camp are probably a seven or an eight and they’re going back into a facility that has threes and twos in it.”
Davidsmeyer also said the closures pass costs onto local governments, by taking the “win-win” programs they rely on.
“Some of these towns are looking at an extra – hiring an extra person or an extra couple people to do some work, and while employment’s great, it’s more taxpayer dollars on mostly small towns that don’t have the extra extra funds to do this,” Davidsmeyer said.
The lawmaker said the facility closures were an example of why they believe Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his administration can’t be trusted to keep promises.
While three of the closures won’t impact employees, the department’s news release said 41 employees at the Clayton camp would be relocated to the Western Illinois Correctional Center 13 miles away.
The department said work crews from the correctional center would continue any ongoing projects of the work camp.
The 27 inmates at the facility will also be moved to the correctional center, but offered the ability to request a transfer to another minimum-security facility or the Pittsfield work camp, which will stay in service.
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