A central Illinois official is warning communities all over Illinois that correctional officers filling in at other prisons for those who are sick with COVID-19 are being released into communities without testing. Kevin Bessler has more….
A county board chairman has raised concerns after he said the Illinois Department of Corrections failed to test 5 correctional officers who worked at Stateville Correctional Center, a state-run prison that has been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The prison has reported a growing number of coronavirus cases and the Illinois Department of Corrections had asked for officers from other prisons to fill in at Stateville. Fulton County Board Chairman Pat O’Brian said officers from Illinois River Correctional Center were told they would be tested after their rotation at Stateville and placed on 14-day paid quarantine. O’Brian said that is not happening.
“They were essentially releasing five individuals back into our communities that had been working at one of the largest COVID outbreaks in a prison in the state of Illinois,” O’Brian said. “We had to act on that.”
State Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, and State Rep. Mike Unes, R-East Peoria, have been in contact with the governor’s office regarding the issues.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker was asked about the issue on Tuesday at a news conference but declined to provide specifics.
“That is a subject of labor negotiations, so that’s an ongoing conversation,” Pritzker said.
O’Brian said he was concerned that this could be happening across the state.
“The five from Illinois River Correctional Center, you would assume that wouldn’t cover that type of loss of workforce, so I would assume that it is a statewide dilemma we are in right now,” O’Brian said.
Pritzker said on Tuesday that the Illinois Department of Corrections had been working to address staffing issues at prisons affected by COVID-19, including making sure each facility had safe staffing levels.
The Illinois Department of Corrections and the union representing prison guards didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
[** This story is from Illinois Radio Network News. **]
