SPRINGFIELD - Frustrated with the Governor's office for ignoring concerns brought to him by a constituent, State Senator John O. Jones (R-Mt Vernon) introduced a resolution that takes matters into the state legislature's hands.
In SR 1004, Jones calls for the Governor to fire the Department of Corrections' top officials, to put a stop on any scheduled prison closures and for the Senate Appropriations Committee to hold public hearings about prison overcrowding and correctional facilities' condition.
Jones told The Southern that a district constituent conveyed a list of grave concerns about Department of Corrections' officials and how the prisons were handling inmate conditions with severe overcrowding and how those conditions were sure to worsen with the Governor's proposed facility closings. Jones said he took those issues to the Governor's office four months ago, and he's heard nothing back. Thus, the resolution which is certain to spark lively discussion if called onto the Senate floor when they return next week.
