Note: The provided document contains text from multiple, unrelated SB 1338 drafts (Arizona, Hawaii, Illinois). This summary focuses on the portion titled and listed as “CD CORR‑TAMMS REPURPOSE,” i.e., the Illinois SB 1338 that creates a Tamms Minimum Security Unit Task Force.
Title
- SB 1338 — Tamms Minimum Security Unit Task Force (adds Article 20 to Chapter III of the Unified Code of Corrections)
Purpose / Intent
- To create a temporary, unpaid Task Force to study practical, efficient, and publicly beneficial ways to repurpose the Tamms Minimum Security Unit and its property (a formerly used state correctional facility), and to recommend options such as mental‑health services, other health services, public safety and law enforcement training, fire services, medical training, or other uses the Task Force deems appropriate.
Key Provisions
- Creation: Establishes the Tamms Minimum Security Unit Task Force charged with studying repurposing options for the Tamms facility and property.
- Scope of study: Includes evaluation of uses for the public benefit — specifically mentions mental health services, health services, public safety, law enforcement training, fire services, medical training, and any other options the Task Force identifies.
- Membership: Composed of legislative appointees and local/state stakeholders. The statute specifies a chair appointed by the Lieutenant Governor and additional members appointed by legislative leaders and local officials, plus representatives including:
- Legislative appointees from the Illinois House and Senate (appointed by the Speaker, President of the Senate, and minority leaders),
- The Director of Corrections or designee,
- A labor organization representative (representing a plurality of Department of Corrections employees),
- Representatives from local education institutions (e.g., Shawnee Community College and regional universities),
- Local officials (mayor of Tamms, an appointee of the Alexander County Board chairman).
(Note: the bill text in the record contains some formatting/wording errors; above is a consolidated description of the intended membership categories.)
- Meetings and administration: Members serve without compensation. The Task Force meets twice yearly or at the chair’s call. The Department of Corrections must provide administrative support.
- Reporting and termination: The Task Force must submit a report with recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly by December 31, 2026. The Task Force is dissolved January 1, 2027. The statutory section is repealed January 1, 2028.
- Effective date: The Act takes effect upon becoming law.
Who Would Be Affected
- State agencies: Illinois Department of Corrections (will provide administrative support and host a director/designee member).
- Local governments and institutions: City of Tamms, Alexander County, Shawnee Community College and regional higher education institutions, local labor organizations.
- Potential service providers and residents: Entities and communities that might host or benefit from repurposed facilities (mental‑health providers, emergency services, training programs, residents of the region).
- Legislature and Governor: recipients of the Task Force report and potential decision‑makers for follow‑up legislation or funding.
Procedural / Timeline Notes
- Sponsor (as recorded): Sen. Dale Fowler.
- Introduced: Jan. 28, 2025 (text indicates immediate effect upon becoming law).
- Key deliverable: final report due Dec. 31, 2026.
- Sunset/dissolution: Task Force dissolved Jan. 1, 2027; statute repealed Jan. 1, 2028.
Potential Impact / Considerations
- Benefits: Could produce actionable recommendations to reuse state property to meet regional needs (mental‑health capacity, training, emergency services), support local economies, and reduce vacant state‑owned property liabilities.
- Costs/Funding: Bill creates no dedicated appropriation; members are unpaid and DOC provides administrative support — implementation of recommendations would likely require subsequent legislative action and funding.
- Local input: Inclusion of local officials and education partners should favor proposals aligned with regional needs, but the bill does not itself authorize transfers or capital projects — it is a planning/assessment body.
If you want, I can:
- Extract and present the exact membership appointment language as written (including the garbled lines), or
- Draft a short one‑page briefing for local stakeholders (Tamms/Alexander County) summarizing what the Task Force could mean for them.
