LINCOLN- The correctional facility in Logan county is on the governor's chopping block.
And tonight hundreds of people made a loud plea to keep it open and save jobs
Lawmakers voiced their frustration that more than 300 local jobs could be lost and a huge impact on the Logan County economy.
The state budget director explained that shuttering the facility would save the state 9 million dollars. And their reasons for closing it, were the age of the facility, it's proximity to another prison in town, and the medium security inmates would be easy to relocate.
Many people in Lincoln voiced concern about the plan to move roughly 2 thousand inmates from Logan to gymnasiums at 11 other facilities across the state. They worried about overcrowding making it unsafe for jailers.
Though the biggest concern was the potential for many jobs being lost, state officials say nearly 200 employees could find jobs at other prisons in the area, and that across Illinois, there are nearly 600 job openings within the Department of Corrections.
