PRISONS MEAN BUSINESS: JOBS, ECONOMY CREATE APPEAL FOR PRISONS

This cell will hold two prisoners when the regional jail is completed near Ullin, Ill.

Look at a map. You can't drive 100 miles without going through a community with some sort of state correctional facility -- from a minimum-security juvenile center to the new super-max, "lockdown" facility at Tamms.

What is the new appeal for prisons?

Jobs and economy!

From initial construction to payroll, the state's prison system means money to communities.

In Illinois, more than 30 operating prison and juvenile facilities provide employment to more than 15,000 employees.

More than a dozen of these facilities are in the lower 12 counties, including the newest super max operation at Tamms, which employees 450 full-time personnel with an annual payroll of more than $17 million.

And more are on the way in Southern Illinois, including the 1,800-bed, $65 million facility under construction at Pinckneyville, which will employ 450 full-time workers with a $20 million annual payroll.

Also scheduled on the Southern Illinois scene is a "private prison," under construction at Ullin in Pulaski County. The $7.5 million, 200-bed, Tri-County Detention and Justice Center along Interstate 57 near Ullin, should open for operation later this year. Sites were recently selected for an adult center in Lawrence County and a juvenile facility at Kewanee.

Prison construction is not limited Southern Illinois. New 1,500-bed, $85 million facilities are scheduled for constructions at nearby Charleston and Licking in South-central Missouri.

In addition to Charleston and Licking, new cells are being built at Bonne Terre, Bowling Green, Cameron, St. Joseph and Vandalia.

Missouri has 19 prison facilities, including the maximum security prison at Potosi, which opened in 1989 and houses more than 800 capital punishment, maximum security and high-risk inmates.

The Missouri Department of Corrections employs more than 8,000 people.

In the beginning, prisons result in numerous construction jobs, along with orders for building materials. As the prison is completed, permanent jobs for residents in a two- to four-county area are realized, along with contracts for health care services, office supplies and other necessary items.

Prisons are a positive thing for a community, says Nic Howell, a public affairs spokesman for the Illinois Department of Corrections. Prisons look for the same factors as an industry or buisness. The only difference, he said, is that "we deal with human beings," not products.

Prisons use local banks for employee benefits, local garbage collectors and other agencies for various products used at the prison.

Prison towns and communities often see auto and home sales increase, said Howell. Prison employees take home annual salaries of $30,000 to $35,000.

Schools and other tax-supported entities may see tax revenues increase as the tax base broadens.

Howell also dismisses the common notion that prisoners' families move into the community to be near them.

It doesn't happen for a couple of reasons, said Howell. Prisoners may be stationed a year or two at a particular facility before being transferred to other institutions. In some cases, they may be moved several times.

Howell said that "in most cases prisoners families are not wealthy people, and can't afford to move from community to community.

At one time in history -- and not that long ago -- communities shunned the idea of a prison "in their back yard."

That has changed. Job-hungry communities in Missouri and Illinois have jumped into races for proposed new prisons that promise expanded employment and a bonanza of state spending on everything from sewage treatment to power and water.

When the proposal for the super maximum security prison was first broached, some 32 Illinois communities bid to become the site for the $65 million facility. The new center at Tamms in Alexander County includes the adjoining Tamms Minimum Security Work Camp that houses 197 inmates.

Twenty-nine communities bid for the prison being constructed at Pinckneyville, and more than 25 communities, from tiny Grayville in Southern Illinois, to Savanna in the state's northwest corner, bid for the two newest prisons -- an adult medium-security prison that would contain 952 cells and house 1,808 inmates, providing 450 jobs and a juvenile medium-security institution to house 400 youths and provide 280 jobs.

Communities from throughout the state submitted proposals for the two newest prison facilities in Missouri. The two 1,500-bed men's prisons will bring 439 permanent jobs each, with an estimated payroll of about $10 million in each community -- Charleston and Licking.

However, there are some communities that "aren't" submitting prison proposals.

One such area is the southern Chicago suburb of Chicago Heights. When it was suggested to city officials that a proposal be made for an adult prison, the people reacted quickly.

As the political uproar swept through the community, flyers appeared: "Meet your new neighbors."

The flyer showed mug shots of a "habitual child molester," a convicted murderer awaiting the death penalty and a man described as convicted of the "first-degree murder of his pregnant wife."

"Say no to prisons in our back yards," the flyer said.

The city officials quickly backed down from prison proposals.

"We want to know where we are wanted," said Howell. "We want to know not only who wants the prison in that community, but we want to know who DOESN"T want it and what the sentiments are."

This all figures in to final decisions for a prison, and hearings are conducted in all "final site" areas.