Jordhan Woods

As of August 31st, Governor Pat Quinn will be closing Dwight Correctional Center leaving 359 state workers jobless and exporting 1,000 female inmates to Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln.

Dwight Correctional Center is a women’s facility, located in Livingston County 65 miles southwest of Chicago, housing over 1,000 female inmates.

The closure of Dwight will result in 359 employees losing their jobs including 142 individuals from Livingston County, 60 from La Salle County, and 44 from Streator. In a town with fewer than 5,000 people, locals fear a decline in local business sales and depreciation of the real estate market. Correctional facilities officers who once held the most steady jobs in the county are now scrambling to find employment. An estimated $40 million deficit is predicted for the Dwight area.

Closing this prison along with other prisons is also predicted to worsen the state’s issue with prison overcrowding. Inmates will be shuffled between Lincoln Correctional Center and Logan Correctional Center, resulting in $500,000 worth of construction to accommodate new residents. Those incarcerated in the maximum security wing of Dwight will be placed amongst medium security walls, placing some of the most hardened criminals amongst other inmates putting them along with employees and surrounding communities at risk.

Governor Pat Quinn plans to close select prisons, correctional facilities, and halfway houses even though the legislature included funding in the budget to keep them open. State employees received word about prison closures via memo from Governor Quinn who will soon release information on how layoffs will be handled.

The memo said: “Please be advised that a final decision has been made with regard to the previously announced closures of correctional facilities and youth centers. The following facilities are now slated for closure: Tamms Correctional Center, Dwight Correctional Center, Southern Illinois ATC (adult transition center), Decatur ATC and Westside ATC, as well as Illinois Youth Centers in Murphysboro and Joliet.”

The memo also stated: “Because of these changes, all affected employees at each facility will receive a new layoff packet with a revised list of available vacancies and an amended seniority roster. Any previous bump or vacancy selections will no longer be valid, and any employer who have made such selections will have an opportunity to re-select a bump or vacancy opportunity.”

Although Governor Quinn has not signed the budget to make the closure official, he is expected to by the end of the month. He stated the closure could potentially save the state $31.3 million annually by moving female inmates to Logan Correctional Center.