 | |
| Location | 700 W Lincoln Street Pontiac, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Status | open |
| Security class | Maximum |
| Capacity | 2298 |
| Opened | 1871 |
| Managed by | Illinois Department of Corrections |
Pontiac Correctional Center, established in June 1871, is an Illinois Department of Corrections maximum security prison (Level 1) for adult males in Pontiac, Illinois. The prison also has a medium security unit that houses medium to minimum security inmates and is classified as Level 3. Until the 2011 abolition of the death penalty in Illinois,[1] the prison housed male death row inmates, but had no execution chamber. Inmates were executed at the Tamms Correctional Center. Although the capacity of the prison is 2172, it has an average daily population of approximately 2000 inmates.
In May 2008, Governor Rod Blagojevich proposed to shut down the Pontiac facility, with a phase-out plan to take place from January through February 2009. The inmate population would be transferred to the Thomson facility, a newly built maximum security prison, which is also equipped to house segregated inmates. Illinois has since sold Thomson to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The Pontiac facility is one of the largest employers in the Livingston County community. Blagojevich's successor, Pat Quinn, cancelled plans to close Pontiac Correctional Center in March 2009 after taking office.[2][3]
- ^ Smith, Matt."Illinois abolishes death penalty." CNN. March 9, 2011.
- ^ Colindres, Adriana (2008-05-05). "Administration wants to close Pontiac Correctional Center". GateHouse News Service. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
- ^ "Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability - Home Page". cgfa.ilga.gov.