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MENARD EMPLOYEES: 'NO CONFIDENCE' IN WARDEN

Author Name, ProPublica

2022-06

CHESTER - Menard Correctional Center employees have voted "no confidence" in Warden Charles Hinsley, asking the Illinois Department of Corrections to reassign him to another post.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, which represents employees at the prison, sent their "no confidence" vote to department director Roger E. Walker 10 days ago but made their displeasure with Hinsley public Monday.

Buddy Maupin, AFSCME regional director, said it became apparent the IDOC top administrator wasn't going to act quickly enough with the union moving quietly.

Without citing any specifics, Maupin said Hinsley's administrative procedures are turning Menard into a dangerous place for workers. The facility houses maximum security and high medium-security male prisoners, with a total capacity of 1,938 inmates.

Maupin delivered this message to Walker:

"Our union holds Roger Walker directly responsible for the health and safety of everyone at Menard," Maupin said.

AFSCME members in Menard voted over a two-day period, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.

"The ballot question was, 'Do you have confidence in the leadership of Warden Hinsley?'" Maupin said.

Employees voted 492 to 42 they did not have confidence in Hinsley's ability to safely run a prison.

IDOC spokeswoman Dede Short said the vote doesn't represent anything but the opinion of the union and isn't likely to change the director's mind about Hinsley.

"That's their (union members') prerogative to express their opinion," Short said. "But we don't choose who represents them in the union, and they don't dictate who we choose to run our facilities."

Tensions between the workers and the warden have been high since May, when Hinsley replaced former warden Eugene McAdory Jr., who was fired from the post.

Employees immediately expressed concern Hinsley seemed more concerned with "being liked" by the inmates, rather than running a safe correctional center.

AFSCME workers publicly protested Hinsley in July, after an assault on correctional officer Eric Pasquino by an inmate. Pasquino suffered serious injuries to his face, and Maupin said he is still on leave, requiring surgery to his nose.

No other assaults between inmates and workers have happened since then, but Maupin said Hinsley's administration tactics continue to put employees in dangerous situations. AFSCME has been upset Gov. Rod Blagojevich's budget for the 2005 fiscal year cuts into the corrections department so deeply, Maupin said.

Workers at Menard have said they are down roughly 300 employees from where the facility stood in 2001. While the union doesn't blame financial woes on Hinsley, Maupin said the warden's apparent lack of concern for worker safety only makes the situation worse.

"We need a change at the top of Menard," Maupin said.

Short said Hinsley has experience as an administrator of several IDOC facilities, including a term as superintendent at Menard in the early 1990s. Hinsley served as warden when the Tamms Super Maximum Security prison opened in 1995 in Alexander County.

Short said Walker monitors what goes on at the facilities, and from what they've seen, Hinsley's record has never shown problems in the past.

"The director feels like he (Hinsley) is a professional representative of the agency," Short said.

She added the department has urged Hinsley to communicate with his staff to try to resolve outstanding issues at Menard.

This is the second time in the department of corrections' history employees have declared "no confidence" in a prison's warden. Maupin said the last time it occurred was in 1996 at the Robinson Correctional Center in Crawford County. He said the union voted against the warden then for situations similar to the one Menard now faces.

Maupin said the union tried to work things through with the department quietly but said the lack of response from Walker's office has been frustrating.

"All I know is they've not reassigned him (Hinsley)," Maupin said. "It didn't take them 10 days to get rid of McAdory."

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