East Central Reporter

In a Jan. 26 Facebook post, Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Vandalia) shared his concerns over a recent incident at Graham Correctional Facility and announced he requested a tour.

“In light of the questions and conflicting information regarding the very serious incident at Graham Correctional Facility, I have requested a tour, along with my colleague State Sen. Steve McClure (R-Litchfield), of the prison at the earliest possible time,” Plummer wrote. “It is important that the Illinois Department of Corrections, and all areas of government, operate with extreme transparency and are accountable to the people and their representatives.”

The incident occurred on Jan. 18, when 18 staff members of the John A. Graham Correctional Center went to local hospitals after interacting with inmates who were experiencing severe discomfort, according to a WTOK report published Jan. 19. Department of Corrections spokesperson Naomi Puzzello said that the Illinois State Police hazardous materials team was involved in the investigation. Staff members who were affected were responding to a “medical incident involving individuals in custody who appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance... All staff members who may have potentially encountered the unknown substance were also sent to a local hospital, as a precaution. All staff are stable currently and many have already been discharged,” Puzzello said.

ABC7 reported that the materials tested by the Illinois State Police did not turn out to be narcotics or hazardous materials. The Illinois State Police will conduct additional testing on clothing, ABC7 reported. 

Plummer noted in his Facebook post that he has very specific questions, like how many have been caught smuggling items and substances into the Graham facility? How many of those substances have been found? He's also requesting information about lockdown status on Jan. 18 or 19 and whether searches of the facility occurred afterward.

Graham Correctional Center opened in 1980, and is a medium security facility for adult male inmates. There are approximately 1,328 inmates there, and the maximum capacity of the center is 1,596.