Inmate population dwindling at work camp planned for closure

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - The number of inmates at a southern Illinois work camp that Gov. Bruce Rauner said he planned to close has dropped considerably.

According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, the Hardin County work camp has 85 inmates as of Monday, down from more than 260 in January. Rauner announced plans to close the work camp in June because of state budget problems.

The population drawdown is due to new inmates not being assigned to the camp, the Springfield bureau of Lee Enterprises newspapers (http://bit.ly/1jWcnew ) reports. The camp typically has inmates with less time left on sentences than inmates at traditional prisons.

State Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, said closing the camp would take "jobs out of southern Illinois." Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said in an email that camp employees would be allowed to transfer to Shawnee or Vienna correctional centers. The camp's employment level has remained steady at 54 workers.

Corrections spokeswoman Nicole Wilson said in an email that inmate populations are also down at other work camps. The number of inmates at the Clayton work camp is down from 193 in January to 125 as of Sept. 30, she said, and the Green County work camp population is down from 181 to 135.

According to Wilson, the Corrections Department's inmate population is down from 49,020 in September 2014 to 46,668 in September of this year.

Closing the Hardin County work camp by Dec. 31 would save about $1 million annually, Wilson said. The state also wouldn't need to upgrade the kitchen, electrical system and water treatment operation, which could cost of as much as $9.8 million.

State Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, said Wednesday that his staff is looking into how to keep the work camp open, including earmark money from lawmakers.

The union representing workers at the prison opposes the drawback in inmates at the Hardin County camp. Roberta Lynch, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, said lawmakers should tell Rauner to keep the work camp open.

"If the governor's commitment to reducing recidivism is real and not just talk, he would encourage this program, not starve it to death," Lynch said.