Proposed closing of 4 low-level prison facilities draws sharp rebuke in
Du Quoin
[October 23, 2026]
By Geoff Ritter and SI Source
DU QUOIN — A plan to close four downstate correctional facilities drew
strong opposition at a public hearing Wednesday in Du Quoin, where
critics cited concerns about future upkeep of the facilities and
Illinois’ approach to the incarceration of young and low-level
offenders.
“We have watered down this program that we built in the late ’80s,” said
Ty Petersen, staff representative for the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees Council 31. “We have given up on the
opportunity to change people’s lives in the Illinois Department of
Corrections.”
Petersen was one of several to offer testimony at Wednesday’s public
hearing, held by members of the Illinois Commission on Government
Forecasting and Accountability. About 40 members of the public attended
the forum at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds.
The meeting was held in response to a plan announced in August by the
Illinois Department of Corrections to phase out impact program
facilities in Du Quoin and Dixon Springs in southern Illinois and work
camps in Clayton and Greene County in east-central Illinois. IDOC says
the four closures will save a combined $35.9 million in capital costs
and $6.5 million in annual operating expenses.
The commission, which planned two additional meetings this week
regarding the closures in Greene County and Clayton, will hold a final
hearing during the Illinois General Assembly’s veto session next month.
Its members then will vote on a final, non-binding recommendation.
IDOC Director Latoya Hughes said at Wednesday’s public meeting the
planned facility closure in Du Quoin will make permanent a temporary
action that moved all of the offenders housed there to the Murphysboro
Life Skills Re-Entry Center. The Du Quoin facility has not housed
offenders since 2024.
Hughes said IDOC decided to permanently close the facilities to address
aging infrastructure and financial efficiency, among other reasons. She
stressed that current employees will be reassigned and that IDOC intends
to honor current collective bargaining agreements.
“This closure is a consolidation of services, not a reduction,” Hughes
told the commission. “There are no layoffs that will occur as a part of
this process. The decision to close this facility was not made lightly.
It reflects careful, data-driven evaluation of our operational needs,
long-term population needs, aging infrastructure and our responsibility
to use our state resources wisely.”
Some, however, questioned IDOC’s stated commitment to its impact
incarceration program, which offers qualifying young and low-level
offenders an alternative to stricter prison sentences by providing
training, education and work opportunities in exchange for shorter terms
of incarceration.
Chuck Stout, staff representative for AFSCME Council 31, suggested IDOC
intended to permanently close the facilities years ago, when the
facilities in Du Quoin, Dixon Springs and Greene County were temporarily
shuttered as a result of a memorandum of understanding between IDOC and
AFSCME.
“Every time we talked about it, they said at worst we would repurpose
them,” Stout said. “There was not a discussion of closure at any time
during those, except when the union raised it and asked. We believed
then, we still believe, that their intention was to close them all
along, but they wanted to avoid this process for as long as possible.”
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State Sen. Terri Bryant speaks Wednesday during a hearing in Du
Quoin held by the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and
Accountability regarding the proposed closure of the Du Quoin Impact
Program. (Southern Illinois Source photo by Geoff Ritter)
State Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, similarly said IDOC seemed not
to communicate its real intentions at the time the memorandum was
signed, adding “it looks very much like the intention was to get rid of
it rather than trying to make the program work.”
She also questioned whether IDOC was properly promoting the program to
judges who possess sentencing discretion. Jennifer Parrack, IDOC’s chief
of programs and support services, said she regularly speaks about the
program at conferences and to judges, although Bryant subsequently asked
Parrack to submit documentation corroborating those efforts.
“I would like to see more people sentenced to the impact incarceration
program,” Parrack told the commission. “Someone that is looking at a
six-, seven-, eight-year prison sentence, this is an excellent
opportunity for them, and the success we’ve had in the impact
incarceration program from a programmatic standpoint, I absolutely
support the program.”
The Du Quoin Impact Program first opened in 1994, and its facility near
the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds was cited by many Wednesday as being
among the more modern in the IDOC system. Despite that, Du Quoin Mayor
Josh Downs said he has serious concerns about what will happen to the
facility once IDOC abandons operations there.
“There are options there,” Downs said. “My concern is that, as a mayor
and also as a taxpayer, don’t let the facility sit, go to waste, cave in
on itself.”
Michael Crum, chief compliance officer at IDOC, said the department
would work with the Illinois Department of Central Management Services
to manage the facility following the anticipated closure.
Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Murrayville, whose district covers the Greene
County Work Camp, said the condition of other facilities demonstrates
that IDOC didn’t properly invest in upkeep.
Davidsmeyer added that the promises offered by the impact program aren’t
ones the state should quickly abandon.
“This is an opportunity for a better future,” Davidsmeyer said. “It’s
not, you’re going to be put in prison, you’re going to serve your
sentence, we’re going to shove you out on your way, good luck. We’re not
just here to punish people. We don’t want them coming back.”
Geoff Ritter is a longtime journalist and editor
based in southern Illinois.
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