Kirk, lawmakers plan tour of Thomson Prison

THOMSON — U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk and U.S. Reps. Don Manzullo and Bobby Schilling plan to tour Thomson Correctional Center.

The lawmakers plan a Wednesday afternoon tour of the northwestern Illinois facility. After the tour, Kirk and Manzullo are to attend a town hall meeting at Highland Community College in Freeport.

Kirk, along with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, recently sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking for assurances no detainees from Guantanamo Bay will be transferred to the center.

They say the government's focus should be on buying and operating Thomson as a maximum-security federal prison.

Support in Washington for housing detainees at Thomson has waned. But Illinois leaders have said that shouldn't throw a wrench into a deal to sell Thomson to the federal government.