HARDIN COUNTY — State Senator Gary Forby says he’s been denied access at a prison in his southern Illinois district.
The Hardin County Work Camp is among the facilities Governor Bruce Rauner has slated for closure, citing budget constraints. Inmates at the facility build houses for the poor and engage in other community work assignments. Forby says he was turned back at the door – and blames on the Rauner administration.

The Illinois Department of Corrections says Forby was denied access because he did not follow proper procedures.
Forby says he’s visited the complex for 15 years, and this was the first time he was denied entry. He says he will comply with Illinois Department of Correction rules to visit the work camp.

Lawmakers made similar reports during the Pat Quinn administration, saying they were turned away from correctional and juvenile correctional facilities in their districts they had previously visited without obstruction.

Okawville Republican Dave Luechtefeld had registered a complaint similar to Forby’s when attempting to visit the now shuttered Youth Correctional Center in Murphysboro shortly before Quinn had the facility closed.

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