To: The Illinois State House and The Illinois State Senate
Reopen and Repurpose Tamms Correctional Center
Overcrowding and understaffing is a huge problem within the Illinois Department of Corrections. Tamms Correctional Center acted as a much needed safety valve for frontline workers as well as inmates.
Why is this important?
Since Tamms Correctional Center was shuttered, the problems of overcrowding and understaffing have been compounded. Inmates again are riding the circuit and the safety valve that Tamms Correctional Center had provided has been removed. Frontline employees are facing increased danger and inmate deaths have occurred as a direct result of the closures. Expert testimony was given during the COGFA committee hearings and yet the voices of AFSCME and frontline employees were ignored. Tamms Correctional Center also provided over 300 jobs in Southern Illinois, and this has had a devastating effect on the local economy. We the undersigned believe that Tamms Correctional Center should be reopened and repurposed and serve the region as a SMI correctional facility. We believe it is fiscally irresponsible to spend $150 million dollars on a new facility while this facility remains shuttered. We believe that we should return these jobs to southern Illinois.