Driving through the city of Lincoln, it’s impossible to miss the red yard signs. Planted on the lawns of many homes and businesses, the signs display the widespread opposition to the state government’s plans to close Logan Correctional Center [LCC].
The prison currently houses about 1,000 female inmates from across the state. It employs about 300 staff, though that number is usually higher.
On Friday, staff from Logan and other regional correctional centers held a charity softball tournament that served both to raise money for the Lincoln food bank, and to spotlight efforts to keep the prison in Logan County.
A state report has determined the facility in poor condition and that it needs to be replaced. The state government looks poised to build a new prison in Will County, which it contends will better serve the 43% of inmates who hail from the Chicago area.
Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch said while that may be better for those inmates, the opposite would be true for many others.
“There are people housed at that facility from southern Illinois, too,” Welch said at Friday's event. “Their families now go from a three-hour drive to a six, seven-hour drive and an overnight stay to see their loved ones.”
In March, Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Corrections [IDOC] announced the state intended to tear down and rebuild two prisons in poor conditions: Stateville Correctional Center for men in Crest Hill outside of Joliet, and LCC outside of Lincoln.
A month later, a new IDOC report said the state's preference is to move LCC to Crest Hill, effectively turning the Stateville prison into a multifunctional campus. The project is estimated to cost $900 million.
LCC staff arguments
Employees of Logan Correctional are unionized under AFSCME Local 2073 that has opposed two previous attempts to close the facility.
The last time was in 2011, when Shannon Kelly headed up the chapter. He argues the lack of a women’s facility in Central Illinois would mean more time and money spent transporting inmates to and from downstate areas. The Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) has previously argued many downstate inmates could be relocated to closer locations like the correctional center in Decatur.
Kelly also thinks finding staff for a new location in Will County could be prohibitively difficult.
“Stateville in Will County has always been one of the hardest facilities to staff. They have one of the highest overtime costs as well,” Kelly said. “So if they can’t staff the two facilities they have, how are they going to staff a third facility with 500 more employees?”
Kelly said the staffing issue is twofold — and likely to occur at the new facility and what already is happening at Logan.
Employees have been leaving now in anticipation of being forced out later, said Kelly, adding the existing staff has undergone mental health training and built trust with inmates with mental illness that would be difficult to reestablish elsewhere.
Though the local community is determined to keep Logan Correctional, there also is widespread agreement with the state report’s conclusion about the condition of the prison.
Staff often said the facility should be partially or entirely replaced. Correctional Lt. Eric McNamara favors replacement, but believes the existing area has suitable land for the project.
“We definitely need a new institution, it’s beyond repair. We’re not arguing that point. But we have land connected to Logan Correctional Center; we can build it there if the state decides to,” McNamara said.
He said both the staff and inmates deserve the better conditions a new facility could provide, adding IDOC is looking to help staff find positions at other facilities, but that such positions may entail lengthy commutes or costly relocation.
The City of Lincoln has experienced its share of recent difficulties.
Lincoln College, in operation for more than 150 years, closed its doors in 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is some interest in community investment, however. Gov. JB Pritzker announced a new youth center would be built in Lincoln in 2021, whose construction is expected to finish in the near future.
From mayor Welch to correctional staff, a common sentiment is the hope that the community can retain what it has and grow in the future. Welch emphasized that people continue to show interest in moving in. Correctional officer John Snyder is one recent arrival. Like many other staff, he hopes his family will be able to remain in their home.
“Myself, I just moved here and just purchased a home. I would have to relocate, and obviously that would lose out on me and my entire family and household,” Snyder said.
While the state appears to be leaning toward the new facility in Will County, the current status of the decision is unknown. Though the state budget has accounted for Logan Correctional's closure, the governor’s office has not received a formal recommendation from a recent Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability hearing.
