Researcher: Closing prison would be costly

SPRINGFIELD -- A study showing the state would gain $4 million by closing Pontiac Correctional Center and opening a prison in northwestern Illinois is being portrayed by its author as flawed.

Robin Hanna of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University said Wednesday the number is based on faulty information. He says instead of a $4 million gain for the state, the move could create an economic loss of between $16 million and $26 million.

Hanna says he is raising questions about his study in hopes Gov. Pat Quinn uses updated numbers in assessing whether to close Pontiac and open the mostly unused Thomson Correctional Center.

Hanna said he came to the wrong conclusion because the data did not factor in the number of new employees being hired at Thomson, versus where they would reside.