Obama Budget Includes Money For Thomson Prison

Obama Budget Includes Money For Thomson Prison
Obama Budget Includes Money For Thomson Prison

Obama Budget Includes Money For Thomson Prison

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President Barack Obama’s budget proposal for 2011 includes millions for the purchase of the Thomson Correctional Center in northwest Illinois.

The Obama administration is budgeting $237 million to purchase and renovate the prison in Thomson, Illinois. It’s the first time an actual dollar amount has been tagged to the facility’s purchase. The Obama administration plans to house both federal inmates and detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba at the prison.

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice says the facility must still be appraised by both the feds and the state, a process that will take several months. That means the actual purchase price might be different than the amount allocated in the proposed federal budget. Congress will need to approve funding and whether to allow detainees to be brought to the U.S.

The state constructed the Thomson prison for about $140 million in 2001.