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Moffitt Questions Potential Thomson Prison Sale
Knox County's representative in the Illinois House says he wonders if possibly selling the Thomson correctional facility to the feds so they can house Guantanamo Bay detainees would do more harm than good.

State Representative Don Moffitt isn't necessarily talking about the possibility of security issues by bringing federal terrorism suspects so close to this area. He's talking about how the prison might better be used without being sold.

Moffitt tells WGIL there is, after all, a reason the prison was built to begin with.

"Thomson prison was built because we have an overcrowding problem in the Department of Corrections now," Moffitt said. "We're understaffed at our other facilities, and overcrowded. Thomson was built to help relieve that overcrowding. If we sell it, we no longer have Thomson has an option. So I'm afraid we've created a potential problem in the future for Illinois for us to deal with the situation that we have."

Moffitt does say, though, on the other hand, it could be perceived that the state not having to continue to operate the prison, which he says is barely used now, would save the state money in tough budget times.

He says that all the questions must be answered before the state ever signs on the dotted line to sell the prison.
11 20 09 by Newsroom
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