State agrees to delay transfer at IYC
By bob okon bokon@stmedianetwork.com August 18, 2012 9:19PM
Gov. Pat Quinn has proposed closing the Illinois Youth Center in Joliet. | File photo
Updated: September 20, 2012 10:10AM
JOLIET — State officials agreed Friday to delay the transfer of inmates from Illinois Youth Center-Joliet, Dwight Correctional Center and other prisons until Aug. 31.
The delay follows an earlier agreement that had pushed back inmate transfers until Friday after the union representing prison employees had argued that inmates were going to prisons that already were overcrowded. The two sides are in arbitration over the dispute.
The delays may have little effect on IYC-Joliet, which is scheduled to close Oct. 31. Most of the other prisons around the state, including Dwight, are scheduled to close Aug. 31. The state and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees are scheduled for another arbitration hearing on Aug. 27.
Sharon Konopka, the AFSCME representative in Joliet, said the state already has started to close down sections of the facility.
“They are double-bunking our youths now just to close down wings,” Konopka said. “That kind of close quarters just increases hostility.”
