South West Illinois News

Sen. Paul Schimpf (R-Waterloo) made use of the break in the Illinois General Assembly to visit the Menard and Pinckneyville correctional centers.

The facilities, in Chester and Pinckneyville, are run by the Illinois Department of Corrections.

“Today was an enlightening experience for me,” Schimpf said. “I witnessed firsthand the difficult job that our friends and neighbors do every day when they report for duty in our corrections facilities. Unfortunately, they are too often the forgotten faces of our public safety system; they deserve our gratitude and respect.”

Schimpf’s constituency includes corrections employees working at Menard, Pinckneyville, Big Muddy River at Ina and the DuQuoin Incarceration Impact Camp, as well as the soon-to-open life skills center in Murphysboro and several other institutions spread across his district. He represents one of the highest concentrations of corrections employees in the state.

“Menard and Pinckneyville correctional centers are two completely different institutions with the same mission: administering justice and ensuring public safety,” he said. “I want to thank the department for giving me this opportunity to tour, and I will keep our correctional employees in my thoughts and prayers. I will be an advocate for them in the Illinois Senate.”