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Pontiac Correctional Center
(picture by the Pontiac Daily Leader)
The Blagojevich Administration has called for the
closure of the Pontiac Correctional Center. In an attempt to keep
the public current on happenings on the matter, Senator Rutherford
has created this internet log of information.
Please check back. Updated information will be
posted frequently.
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Action Alert!
As events unfold in the effort to keep Pontiac
Correctional Center open there will be chances for the public to
participate. We will be posting these opportunities as they arise.
Keep an eye out for our red Action Alert headline.
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Action Alert! - Write the Governor
Please take the time to write a letter to the
Governor expressing your disapproval of the plan to close Pontiac
Correctional Center.
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Governor Rod Blagojevich
James R. Thompson Center
100 W. Randolph Street, Ste. 16-100
Chicago, IL 60601
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Please send us a copy of the
letter you submit. Letters can be mailed to:
Senator Dan Rutherford
320 N. Plum St.
Pontiac, IL 61764
Below are some bullet points that
may help you in writing your letter:
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Be polite
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Include a
personal story about the impact the closing would have
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Tell how this
would affect the working families of Illinois
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Discuss the
overall economic impact the closing would have on the community
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Handwrite a
personal letter. They are much more effective than a form
letter.
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Media Reports
Check here for news stories from around
Illinois regarding the closure of PCC. Fresh articles will be
posted regularly.
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Blagojevich flip-flops on
decision to close prisons
Bloomington Pantagraph
Kurt Erickson
SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s decision to close a state prison is a
reversal of what his own prison experts said just a year ago.
In May 2007, an Illinois Department of Corrections spokesman said top
brass at the agency had no plans to close any state prisons.
But in February, a plan to close a portion of Stateville Correctional
Center near Joliet emerged following the unveiling of Blagojevich’s
proposed budget.
On Friday, Corrections chief Roger Walker said in a letter the agency was
abandoning plans to close Stateville and instead focusing on closing the
1,650-inmate Pontiac Correctional Center.
That stands in contrast to what Walker spokesman Derek Schnapp said in an
e-mail exchange last year.
Asked whether the department believes there is a need to close additional
prisons, Schnapp answered succinctly.
“No,” Schnapp wrote on May 23, 2007.
The proposal to shutter the 137-year-old prison in Pontiac marks the
second time since 2004 that Blagojevich has targeted the maximum-security
lockup for closure. At stake are more than 550 employees and an economic
benefit to Livingston County of nearly $40 million.
In his letter, Walker said moving the inmate population from Pontiac to
the state’s unused prison in Thomson makes more sense than closing
Stateville.
On Tuesday, Schnapp was asked what had triggered the agency’s change of
direction. He did not directly address the question.
Rather, Schnapp said the agency has made opening Thomson a priority. It
was completed in 2001 but never opened because of budget problems.
“Our goal is to open Thomson Correction (sic) Center,” Schnapp noted.
“Thomson will allow us to single cell the inmate population at Pontiac,
which is mostly segregation and protective custody.”
The agency wants to close Pontiac by January. Lawmakers have vowed to
block the move.
A public hearing on the proposal could come as early as July 3.
State Rep. Keith Sommer, R-Morton, said the latest announcement of
Pontiac’s proposed demise comes just weeks after the prison was visited by
top Corrections administrators and representatives of the governor’s
office.
After that meeting, Sommer said, the department said there wasn’t any
reason to be concerned about Pontiac being closed.
“They said, ‘Don’t worry about it,”’ Sommer said.
State Sen. Dan Rutherford, R-Chenoa, and Sommer, both of whom represent
the Pontiac area, want a moratorium on prison closings so a process can be
worked out in which there is a defined approach to major prison changes
within the department.
“These communities are being whipsawed,” Rutherford said, pointing to the
on-again, off-again opening and closing talk affecting Pontiac, Thomson
and Stateville.
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May 9, 2008
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Tentative
schedule for PCC hearings
The above document was released by the
Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. It is the
tentative time frame for the implementation of Closure Act
proceedings.
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Official
notice to the Commission on Government Forecasting and
Accountability
The Official Notice on closing PCC was given
by the Blagojevich Administration to the Commission on
Government Forecasting and Accountability.
May 6, 2008
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The
State Facilities Closure Act text
The State Facilities Closure Act outlines the
guidelines that must be followed in order to close a state
facility such as PCC.
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Written notification
of the intent to close PCC
(pdf courtesy of The Capitol Fax Blog:
http://thecapitolfaxblog.com/ )
This letter was sent from Roger Walker, the
Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, to State
Senator Arthur J. Wilhelmi. Stateville Correctional Facility is
located in Sen. Wilhelmi's District.
The letter states the plan to close PCC and
keep the Stateville Roundhouse open.
May 2, 2008
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