Protections sought for prison workers in closing of aging Illinois prison

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The union representing state prison workers is seeking a federal court order that the Illinois Department of Corrections ensure the rights and safety of employees as it shutters a century-old maximum-security lockup outside Chicago.

U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood, who last month ordered that most inmates be moved elsewhere from the decrepit Stateville Correctional Center, is scheduled on Wednesday to consider the complaint from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31.

The Corrections Department acquiesced to the Aug. 9 ruling, saying it is in line with its plan to close Stateville this month in preparation for replacing it with a new facility on the same site.

The closure is part of a five-year, $900 million plan that includes replacing a women’s lockup in the central Illinois city of Lincoln. That prison, Logan Correctional Center, about 130 miles (205 kilometers) northeast of St. Louis, might be rebuilt on the Stateville site.

Wood ruled on Aug. 9 that most of the 430 inmates at Stateville in suburban Crest Hill, located about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, would have to be moved because of safety concerns raised by falling chunks of concrete, bird excrement, foul-smelling tap water and more.

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