On October 24th 2019, community members gathered at a meeting of the Champaign County Board to deliver public comments and listen to board discussion on the “Champaign County Public Safety Facility Master Plan 2019 jail consolidation”. The proposed consolidation plan – estimated by the Sheriff at this meeting to cost anywhere between $42-$52 million – raised many concerns by activists in particular.
Dottie Vura-Weis, who has organized with Build Programs Not Jails for several years, delivered commentary to the board during public participation providing a handout to each board member as well as those in the audience. The short handout provides a history of the jails, a snapshot of jail demographics, as a useful summary of recommendations by the Champaign County Community Justice Task Force (2013) and the Racial Justice Task Force (2017).
You can download Dottie’s pamphlet below.
Build Programs Not Jails 