Lawmakers decry lack of info amid Pontiac prison transfers

The transfer of 170 medium security inmates out of Pontiac Correctional Center in February, along with an unapproved draft of a plan that would close certain medium security wings of the prison has led to some questions about the prison’s fate.

State Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) and state Rep. Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City) conducted a town hall meeting Tuesday night in Pontiac to address the public’s concerns, although not much is known.

That’s not for lack of effort on Barickman’s part.

“We’ve been through this before when [former Gov. Bruce Rauner] wanted to close the Pontiac prison and then didn’t, and we’ve mentioned this before that Dwight, when [Former Gov. Pat Quinn’s] administration closed the Dwight facility,” Barickman said. “In both events, there was a lack of information that came in at the community level and the community had a lot of not only concerns, but also a strong rumor mill about what was happening.”

Barickman said the conclusion most people draw is it’s about politics, and while he doesn’t exactly know what’s going on, he knows the calls for transparency to save Pontiac prison are coming from both Democrats and Republicans.

“As a lawmaker, whether you’re Republican or Democrat, when an administration makes big decisions they tend to give you a heads up,” Barickman said. “Just a ‘hey, this is happening.’ ”

That way, Barickman said, he can go to his constituents and explain what’s happening. He said the draft came as a surprise but when he spoke to Illinois Department of Corrections Director Rob Jeffreys, he said he was told the draft wasn’t approved.

Jeffreys was invited to speak at the town hall, but he declined.

Barickman said lawmakers asked all sorts of specifics about the facilities, specifically the “farm” at the south end and the housing units at the far north, and received no answers.

Jeffreys was adamant the prison is not closing, but Barickman wanted to push further. He said when Dwight closed, it triggered an oversight hearing at the high school’s gymnasium required by law.

“They said they’re not proposing a closure and he was worried about that law being triggered,” Barickman said. “He wanted to be clear that they were trying to avoid that from occurring.”

Livingston County Board Chairman Kathy Arbogast said Dwight’s prison leaving caused the worst economic downturn in Livingston County.

Pontiac Mayor Bill Alvey said the prison, while not what he’d call a tourist attraction, is a boon to Pontiac: It brings employment to the city and the city works hard to ensure it has the proper infrastructure for the prison to run.

“There’s a reduction in population and they’re using less of that facility, which puts a burden on the city and the taxpayers,” Alvey said. “The taxpayers pay the full load, so we might want to get a better perspective of what they’re going to do and when they’re going to do it.”

Pontiac Correctional Center is the third largest employer in Livingston County.

William Lee, the President of AFSCME Local 494, said the union is raising the alarm on reducing functional areas of the prison, suggesting that department and administrative officers be fully transparent regarding reorganization strategies, to help identify and correct problems as they happen, and talk to employees to check up on the security of working conditions more often.

State lawmakers also have called a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and House Appropriations-Public Safety Committees to get an update on Pontiac and Vandalia prisons.