LINCOLN (25News Now) – Logan Correctional Center employees were loud Thursday afternoon before a public hearing, begging lawmakers to oppose relocating the women’s prison.

The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability hosted a public hearing at Lincoln Junior High School to hear testimony from Illinois Department of Corrections staff, local stakeholders, and concerned citizens about the proposed closure of Logan Correctional Center.

In March, Gov. JB Pritzker and the IDOC announced plans to tear down and rebuild Logan Correctional Center, just not in Lincoln. The IDOC wants to move the maximum-security women’s prison to Stateville’s correctional grounds in Crest Hill, which is near Joliet.

During Thursday’s hearing, IDOC leaders said rebuilding Logan would provide a more regionalized approach for women’s facilities by offering a prison up north to pair with the centrally located facility in Decatur. They add there are more services for rehabilitation and re-entry offered near Stateville.

“We understand that any relocation disrupts employees, their families, the individuals in our custody, and their loved ones; however, this rebuild will follow a phased approach, implemented systematically and transparently,” said IDOC Director Latoya Hughes.

“Once complete, the department will have a modern facility with the technological and structural capabilities necessary to provide a safe and secure environment for both the staff and the individuals in our custody while enhancing rehabilitation and re-entry and reducing recidivism while fostering safer communities,” Hughes said.

With this move, almost 500 people employed at Logan Correctional Center would have to relocate.

The IDOC says more than 800 employee positions are available within a 90-mile radius of Lincoln, including openings at Lincoln, Decatur, Pontiac, Jacksonville, Illinois River, and Taylorville Correctional Centers.

However, the president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 2073, the correctional officers’ union, said the move doesn’t make sense.

“You’re going to lose the 450 to 500 employees we have here. We’re not going to make that move; it’s just too far away for us, so they would be starting a fresh, brand new facility, with literally no employees to operate it,” Union President Kenny Johnson said. “Someone needs to make it make sense to us.”

Johnson said he has enough seniority that he would be able to transfer to a relatively close facility without losing his rank. Yet he worries for his co-workers who don’t have that seniority and would have to accept an entry-level position close to Lincoln, which would result in a significant pay cut.

During Thursday’s public hearing, IDOC Director Hughes said the state doesn’t have a facility design or final capacity figures yet. Prisoners at Logan Correctional Center would stay there until the rebuild is complete, as long as it’s safe.

There are 1,541 total women in the custody of the IDOC. Of that, 1,081 are at Logan Correctional Center.

Hughes says women from the Cook County area have longer sentences for more serious crimes compared to other parts of the state. She argues they need extensive rehabilitation and re-entry services, closer to home.

The next closest women’s prison is a minimum security facility in Decatur.

State Sen. Sally Turner (R-Lincoln) argues women in custody at Logan are satisfied staying there.

“They don’t want to move to an entirely different facility and learn a whole new way [of living],” said Turner. “Their families, a lot of times, follow them here, so some of our schools would be affected and, of course, all of our taxing bodies.”

The commission that heard Thursday’s testimony, is composed of state lawmakers. They will give an advisory opinion Friday at 11 a.m. on the proposed relocation.

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