…Correctional Center becoming the new home of the Gitmo detainees.

Fox News has learned there is a potential obstacle in Illinois law which could delay such a deal.

There have been indications Governor Pat Quinn (D – IL) would declare the prison in northwest Illinois to be “surplus” state property and therefore eligible for sale. But under state law…surplus propery is state-owned land which is “vacant, unoccupied or un-used”.

Thomson IS in use. There are two separate prison units on the property. The maximum security unit is empty…but the minimum security unit shows 144 inmates according to the Illinois Department of Corrections website.

The issue of whether an occupied prison is legally “surplus” was raised by the Minority Leader of the Illinois House of Representatives Tom Cross (R – Plainfield IL).  His office asked for a legal opinion on the matter from state Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D – IL). In a letter from Madigan to Cross sent today, the Attorney General states the State Property Control Act does apply to the sale of Thomson.

There is another issue simmering.  In Madigan’s letter…the Attorney General also has questions about if the state bonds for building the prison have been paid off. State law also requires any un-paid state bonds used to build “fixtures” on the property must be re-paid FIRST…if the property is sold. Money left-over would go into the state’s general fund.

Attorney General Madigan states in her letter to Cross she has not heard back from Governor Quinn’s office on how much…if anything…is still owed on the prison’s construction bonds.