Rauner wants to save $4 million by replacing prison guards with tower cameras

Gov. Bruce Rauner wants to replace guards in watchtowers with closed-circuit cameras at nearly two dozen lower-security Illinois prisons, an effort to cut expenses for a cash-strapped state that has gone two years without a budget.

The administration is projecting $4 million in annual savings through reduced overtime pay and "more efficient management strategies," Rauner spokeswoman Eleni Demertzis told The Associated Press.

No security guards will be laid off, Corrections department spokeswoman Nicole Wilson said.

Such a proposal has encountered mixed results in other states. Michigan and Pennsylvania prison officials said they abandoned round-the-clock tower staffing in the past decade without layoffs. Wisconsin eliminated 60 guard tower positions in 2015, transferring the officers working there to other posts.

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