State chooses Will County for new Stateville, Logan prisons

The Illinois Department of Corrections is officially planning to rebuild its Logan and Stateville correctional centers in Will County, dashing hopes for some downstate that it would rebuild Logan at its current location in Lincoln.

The announcement comes two years after Gov. JB Pritzker and the IDOC indicated the state would rebuild the aging prisons.

It became apparent early the state likely would rebuild both in far southwest suburban Crest Hill, where Stateville already is located. A construction advising team hired by the state determined the Logan women’s facility should be rebuilt in Crest Hill in tandem with the Stateville men’s facility due to financial and operational needs.

The announcement drew criticism from local and state Republican leaders, who say the choice to move Logan instead of rehabbing the existing prison could cause further economic harm to the city of Lincoln and Logan County, after the closure of two private colleges in the area.

IDOC said it will provide transfer opportunities for Logan employees — but current employees and union representatives say packing up and moving presents a hardship for families.

Site criteria

The decision to rebuild Logan and Stateville comes amid “critical infrastructure needs” at both facilities, according to the administration. Stateville was built in 1925 and Logan includes buildings dating back to the 1930s.

The firm hired by the state to manage and advise the construction process examined potential locations in Lincoln and Crest Hill, conducted a needs assessment for the soon-to-be-built facilities, and visited other correctional facilities across the country.

“Examination of the current Logan Correctional Center site and alternative sites in Lincoln demonstrated that these options did not exhibit the physical space or site conditions required to accommodate the new women’s facility within the established acreage, security, and operational parameters,” IDOC said in a Friday statement.

Building both facilities in Crest Hill allows for shorter project duration and shared infrastructure, such as a central utility plant, warehouse, entry drive and parking lot. It also allows centralization of healthcare, educational and re-entry resources, which will minimize costs, officials say.

Months after the state’s original announcement to rehab the facilities, Logan County residents filled a series of hearings to protest the state’s apparent plan to build both facilities in Crest Hill.

Republican state Sen. Sally Turner of Beason and Rep. Bill Hauter of Morton released a joint statement Friday with Logan County Board Chair James Glenn and Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch criticizing the decision.

“Illinois should be investing in much needed repairs and upgrades to Logan, so that it can best serve its role to rehabilitate people to become productive members of society,” the statement reads. “Moving the facility will do nothing to improve outcomes for those who are incarcerated there, it will absolutely devastate our local communities, and it will force staff to choose between uprooting their families from their homes or going on unemployment.”

IDOC said it plans to keep Logan open as long as possible to avoid disruption and is evaluating future use of the property. IDOC estimates it will take five years to complete construction of the new prison.

New facilities

IDOC is working with the Illinois Capital Development Board to construct the two multi-level security facilities, which will include “rehabilitative and gender-responsive spaces with housing, education, programming, medical and mental health, dietary, and recreational areas to support the successful re-entry of individuals into their communities.”

The women’s facility will have a capacity of 800, and the men’s facility will have a capacity of 1,500, with infrastructure in the men’s facility to allow for up to 450 additional beds. Later this summer, the Capital Development Board plans to open proposals for the design and construction of these facilities.

The budget for the 2026 fiscal year, which ends June 30, includes $900 million in to build a new men’s facility and a new women’s facility.