Another Geo Private Prison Riot

By Ashley Wiehle, The Southern

ULLIN — Pulaski County State’s Attorney Grayson Gile will weigh in on whether to press charges following a riot involving nearly 50 inmates of the Tri-County Justice and Detention Center in Ullin on Friday evening.

The Illinois State Police responded around 8:30 p.m. Friday to a call that 46 inmates had barricaded themselves inside a housing area and began setting fire to mattresses and books.

When police and Pulaski County Sheriff Randy Kern, warden of the Tri-County Correctional Center, arrived, inmates refused orders to peacefully exit the burning area.

Officers, with the aid of 18 local agencies including fire and ambulance services, began firing tear gas projectiles into the facility around just after 9 p.m.

Inmates began to slowly exit the building. Each was decontaminated, taken into custody and individually secured in a separate area of the facility.

The last inmate was decontaminated and locked down at 9:20 p.m. Friday.

Kern said he believed there was no chance of an additional riot, because all inmates had been locked up individually.

No inmates or officers were injured in the riot, Kern said.

A 226-bed facility that opened in July 2004, the Tri-County Justice and Detention Center is owned by the GEO Group, headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla.

Officials at Tri-County Justice and Detention Center said on Saturday afternoon there was a strict “no comment” policy from local affiliates of the GEO Group and that all comment must come from the Florida headquarters.

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