Why Illinois is Moving Stateville Prisoners

The state has until Monday to transfer most of Stateville Correctional Center's population to different prisons after a federal judge found the Crest Hill facility uninhabitable.

The maximum security men’s prison has long been under scrutiny for a litany of problems. Here's how we got here.

First, Pritzker’s Plans

Gov. JB Pritzker announced in the spring a plan to temporarily close Stateville due to infrastructure needs. It would be demolished and rebuilt along with the Logan Correctional Center, a women’s prison in Lincoln.

The proposal would cost almost $1 billion and take up to five years to replace the 99-year-old prison with a new facility. The women's prison could be rebuilt on the new Stateville campus, but few details are out, the Associated Press reported.

Why a Judge Got Involved

Falling concrete. Bird feces. Undrinkable water.

Those are the conditions that prompted U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood to order most of the incarcerated men be moved to other facilities. 

Last month's order is part of an 11-year legal battle over the conditions at Stateville and came after 51-year-old Michael Broadway died at the facility during a heat wave in June, Capitol News Illinois reported.

What About Stateville’s Education Programs?

Programs like Northwestern University’s Prison Education Program allowed incarcerated people to earn degrees and Prison+Neighborhood Arts/Education Project lets people take classes for their own enrichment.

But the future of Stateville’s robust educational and cultural programming is up in the air as men have been transferred out abruptly, WBEZ reported.

Workers Are Affected, Too

The Illinois Department of Corrections said Stateville staffers won’t lose their jobs during construction, and there will be opportunities for work in the department in the interim, according to CBS News. But workers are worried about layoffs and long commutes to other facilities.

What’s Next?

The state has six more days to finish evacuating the prison as lawmakers await details about plans to replace the facility.