August 19, 2016

To the Honorable Members of

The Illinois House of Representatives,

99th General Assembly:

Today I veto House Bill 4326, which would require the Department of Corrections to reopen the Hardin County Work Camp, but provide no resources to fund repairs or operations.

Hardin County Work Camp closed in January 2016 as a result of high maintenance and repair costs from a fire at the Camp. Due to the burdens of the State’s procurement process, the Department was initially unable to undertake such repairs and the costs continued to rise. The Department followed proper facility closure procedures and all the persons housed at the Camp were relocated to other similar facilities. Employees were offered other employment opportunities at nearby facilities.  

While I appreciate the impact of this facility closure on the local economy, forcing the Department of Corrections to reopen the Camp is an unnecessary spend of taxpayer dollars. The funds required to complete the repairs are not within the Department’s budget nor were they appropriated in any budget proposed by the General Assembly. As such, this legislation would require the Department to reallocate resources from other vital services in order to comply.

I am committed to reducing our prison population and believe that work camp facilities play an important role in rehabilitating offenders. However, requiring the opening of a dilapidated facility hamstrings the Department’s discretion in using its limited resources.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 4326, entitled “AN ACT concerning criminal law”, with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.

Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner

GOVERNOR