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Department of Corrections Director Michael Randle, who was charged with reviewing the debated Tamms Correctional Center when he was appointed in June, said his 10-point plan came after a visit to the far southern Illinois facility.

"We must take a holistic look at the entire institution," he said Thursday at a luncheon for the John Howard Association of Illinois, a prison reform group. "It's imperative to take systematic reforms."

Randle said he spent about 10 hours of his second day on the job at Tamms, which houses about 250 of the state's worst offenders. He said he interviewed staff, walked every cell block and observed routines.

He said a review was conducted of inmates held at Tamms from 1998 to 2004 and that 45 would be eligible for an eventual transfer to lower security facilities. He also vowed that every inmate at Tamms would receive a full mental health evaluation within 30 days of arriving and mental health staff would conduct weekly checks on inmates.

The reforms come as Tamms, where prisoners spend most of their days in solitary confinement, faces heavy scrutiny and numerous lawsuits for allegations of inhumane treatment of prisoners.

Amnesty International has urged Gov. Pat Quinn to end indefinite solitary confinement at Tamms and to prohibit transferring seriously mentally ill prisoners to the facility. Other advocates have even pushed for closing the 11-year-old facility.

Randle said Thursday that closing Tamms never was considered. He said he did not know the details of Amnesty's call for change at Tamms, but he does not support independent reviewers coming into the facility.

He declined to discuss specific details on allegations of abuse.

"Any allegation is looked into," he said.

Members of Tamms Year Ten, an activist group, praised parts of Randle's plan, but said it doesn't go far enough, particularly when it comes to mentally ill inmates.

"It sounds like the Illinois Department of Corrections is really moving into a new direction at Tamms," said Laurie Jo Reynolds, a spokeswoman for Tamms Year Ten. "But ... there must be some mental health oversight, independently, to prevent well-documented abuse and neglect of mentally ill prisoners."

Randle, a former deputy director of Ohio's prison system, devoted most of his speech, entitled "Charting a New Course for Illinois Prisons," to touting his Tamms plan.

He said the reforms also include informing all prisoners on their approximate length of stay, giving each prisoner a transfer review hearing, allowing Tamms prisoners to take the GED and increased incentives for good behavior, like telephone or out-of-cell privileges.

Quinn, who appointed Randle, has signed off on the reforms.

Tamms warden Yolande Johnson told The Associated Press the plan "is very doable" but some points will be more difficult to implement than others, like installing a telephone system for inmates.

She declined to comment on abuse allegations, saying prison staff follow the state's mission of treating prisoners humanely. She disagreed with some activists' recent comparisons of alleged abuse at Tamms to abuse allegations at Guantanamo Bay.

"We don't torture inmates," she told the AP.

During the speech, Randle said his other goals for all the state's prisons is to reduce the recidivism rate, which is about 51 percent, and the number of prisoners overall.

Illinois has about 46,000 inmates and about 33,000 parolees.

Randle said it would be better for lower level offenders to be punished through community programs, instead of jail, particularly as his agency faces budget cuts and staff reductions.

"We are reviewing every facet of IDOC," Randle said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-illinois-correcti,0,5700735.story