Hiring is underway for the long-shuttered Thomson Prison in northwest Illinois.
Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Chris Burke confirmed to WNIJ Friday morning that there are 15 job openings for Thomson through USAJobs.gov. He did not have specifics of those positions.
According to the Quad City Times, the posts include a budget and technology officer, IT specialist and correctional supervisors.
It's the first in a long process to fully operate the facility. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and U.S. Representative Cheri Bustos last month announced that the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Prisons committed $53.7 million in funding to the activation of the facility. According to a news release, the full activation of Thomson prison is expected to take two years at a cost of $25 million for upgrades and renovations and approximately $170 million for equipment and staffing.
About Thomson
The prison was built in 2001. Under state control, the prison sat empty for years and eventually housed only minimum-security prisoners before it was sold to the federal government in 2012.
