Hundreds of Menard Correctional Center employees and their supporters staged a rally alongside a busy street in Chester on July 8, highlighting what they described as perilous working conditions at the state’s largest maximum-security prison.  

The problems at the Chester prison stem from low staffing levels, said Rick Hepp, a correctional sergeant at Menard. Hepp said that in recent months the prison has been operating with about 50 fewer correctional officers than it should have daily.  

“There’s lots of issues here that add up to a big powder keg and the fuse is lit,” Hepp, who is president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1175 representing Menard employees, told Capitol News Illinois.  

He said staffing shortages often lead to restrictions in the normal activities prisoners can engage in, such as yard time, visits to the commissary and showers. This is frustrating inmates, leading to an uptick in assaults on workers and fights among inmates, he said. 

Hepp said that over a recent three-week period, 13 correctional officers were out due to injuries sustained on the job. In one instance, a prisoner headbutted a guard, breaking his nose and necessitating emergency surgery.  

In another, an inmate being escorted outside of his cell broke out of his cuffs and took off running. When a guard tried to apprehend him, the inmate punched him in the face with his cuffs, he said. Though they eventually secured him, Hepp said six correctional officers had to seek medical care following the incident.  

Amid this chaos, Hepp said some employees have started calling in sick on their scheduled days because they are burned out or afraid, exacerbating the staffing crisis. 

On July 10, workers gathered near the entrance to Menard’s medium-security unit, holding up signs reading “Safety Matters.” 

Menard, a 146-year-old prison located along the banks of the Mississippi River, houses about 1,500 maximum-security and 300 medium-security individuals.

Menard had 817 employees as of May, which is 68 short of the number budgeted for the fiscal year ending June 30. But that number included staff for a “South Cell House” that remains unoccupied. This year, the Illinois Department of Corrections has hired 76 staff members at Menard, including 31 correctional officers. 

(article courtesy of Capitol News Illinois)