Durbin, Quinn: DOJ Announces Plans to Fully Utilize Thomson Correctional Center
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Dick
Durbin (D-IL) and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn announced today that the
Department of Justice (DOJ) intends to acquire the Thomson Correctional
Center by the end of the year and fully utilize the entire facility.
In a letter to Durbin, Quinn and Congressman Don Manzullo (R-IL), a DOJ
official explained that the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) plans to
make modifications to the prison and hire and train a full complement
of staff while the Defense Department and Congress continue to work on
authorizing and funding a portion of the Thomson facility for housing
Guantanamo detainees.
Durbin and Governor Quinn issued the following statement:
“With
this letter today, the Bureau of Prisons has reaffirmed the commitment
it made earlier this year to fully utilize Thomson Correction Center
and upgrade the facility to make it the safest prison in the nation. The agency has already begun the process of recruiting for positions at
the prison, so having the facility operating at full capacity could
result in more jobs for residents of Thomson and surrounding areas. As we have said many times, this move will have an enormous impact on
our state –generating thousands of good paying jobs and potentially
injecting more than $1 billion into the regional economy. This is an
opportunity to dramatically reduce unemployment, create thousands of
good-paying jobs and breathe new economic life into a part of Illinois
that desperately needs this.”
The purchase, activation
and operation of Thomson Correctional Center is expected to generate
more than 3,000 jobs – roughly half of which are expected to be given
to local applicants – and inject more than $1 billion into the regional
economy. Currently, there is a critical need for a facility to address
federal prison overcrowding problems nationwide and a particularly
urgent need for supermax-type bed space. More than 209,000 inmates are
in the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons, up sharply from
202,000 last year.
The Thomson facility was built in 2001 by
the State of Illinois as a state-of-the-art, maximum-security prison to
house the most severe criminal offenders. The facility was never
occupied, however, and is sitting vacant. The facility was constructed
on a 146-acre reservation has 1,600 beds with eight compartmentalized
units designed for maximum inmate supervision and control. Security
features include:
- Dual-sided electrical stun fencing capable of carrying 7,000 volts;
- 312 Cameras on a fiber optic surveillance network with motion detection/remote monitoring capabilities;
- Armed outer and inner perimeter towers.
Text of the letter appears below:
June 21, 2010
The Honorable Richard J. Durbin
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Donald A. Manzullo
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Senator Durbin and Congressman Manzullo:
We understand that Harley Lappin, the Director of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), recently briefed both of you and your staffs on the significant progress being made by BOP and the State of Illinois in their efforts to complete multiple steps required at the federal and state levels in order to purchase the Thomson Correctional Center. This letter reaffirms the Administration's commitment to acquiring the facility this year and provides additional details about measures that have been taken to date and those that will be taken in the coming months. We are also forwarding a copy of this letter to Governor Quinn in light of the active, ongoing efforts of Illinois state officials on this issue.
As Director Lappin stated in his briefings to you, multiple appraisals of the facility by the federal government and the state are in progress. In addition, officials from BOP's Capacity Planning, Facility Activation, and Site Selection Office and BOP's North Central Regional Office have been meeting with local officials and prospective job applicants throughout the region to discuss staffing needs for operating the institution. These include meetings in Fulton, Illinois on April 21, Moline, Illinois on May 4, Freeport, Illinois on May 5, and Davenport, Iowa on May 6. Additional meetings are planned this month for application and resume workshops at Sauk Valley Community College and Black Hawk Community College.
In response to Congressman Manzullo's request on May 24, 2010, that BOP “separate the GITMO portion of the Thomson plan and proceed with the full utilization of the Thomson Correctional Facility as a stand-alone federal prison," we understand that Director Lappin explained that BOP will have access to the entire facility after it is acquired. BOP plans to make certain modifications to the facility and hire and train a full complement of staff while the Defense Department continues to work with Congress to obtain authorization and funding for a portion of the Thomson facility.
Building and maintaining strong relationships with communities that surround BOP institutions is an important part of our operations. Thank you for your ongoing support, and we look forward to continuing to discuss with you our plans for activating and operating the facility. Please do not hesitate to contact this office if we may be of further assistance with this or any other matter.
Sincerely,
Ronald Weich
Assistant Attorney General
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