Banned from Old Joliet Prison, two ex-guards seek help from city

Two former guards at the old Joliet Correctional Center this week sought the city’s help in lifting a ban that prevents them from visiting their former workplace that is now a tourist site.

Mike Johnson and Ron Trujillo, both former guards and counselors for the Illinois Department of Corrections, conducted what were known as prison guard tours at what is now the Old Joliet Prison until they were terminated a year ago as employees of the Joliet Area Historical Museum. The museum manages the old prison site.

Their termination included a ban that prevents them and five other former museum staffers and volunteers from stepping foot on the grounds of the Old Joliet Prison.

The former Joliet Correctional Center has been renamed the Old Joliet Prison since it was converted into a tourist attraction and event site.

Johnson and Trujilo were among 13 museum employees and volunteers removed from the staff at the Old Joliet Prison a year ago in a purging that appeared to be largely connected to a Facebook site and critical comments made about management.

Johnson and Trujillo at a City Council meeting Tuesday repeated past claims that they were wrongly accused and asked the city to get involved to lift the ban that bars them from the prison where they worked for years.

“I’m a lifelong Joliet guy,” Johnson told the council, saying his only time spent away from the city were two years of volunteer service with the U.S. Army after graduating from the old Joliet Catholic High School in 1975.

He went to work as a correctional officer in 1984 at the former Joliet Correctional Center, where he later became a counselor. After retiring, Johnson volunteered at the Joliet Area Historical Museum, which manages the Old Joliet Prison.

“I started what became the guard tours with Ron Trujillo,” Johnson told the council.

Those guard tours ended with their termination.

Trujillo also spoke to the council, asking the city to get involved in lifting the ban.

The prison is very dear to me and Mike and most people who worked there,” Trujillo said. “You form a bond with that prison.”

A few council members and city officials voiced support for Johnson and Trujillo but said they could not order museum staff to lift the ban.

“I am on your side, guys, but I’m going to tell you that we can’t force them,” council member Larry Hug said.

Hug and City Manager Beth Beatty said the Joliet Area Historical Museum, which manages the prison and its staff of employees and volunteers, is a separate entity that the city does not control.

“Officially, because we are a separate entity, there is nothing I can do,” Beatty said. “I can use my position to communicate with them.”

Beatty said she has spoken with museum CEO Greg Peerbolte, who conducted the dismissals, and museum board members about the matter.

“I would really encourage you to reach out to the board,” Beatty told the council. “They are backing the executive director on this.”

Peerbolte did not return a call from The Herald-News for comment and has declined to discuss the situation in the past, referring to it as a personnel matter.

The city and museum are partners in the operation of the Old Joliet Prison as a tourist and event destination. The city leases the property from the state, and the museum manages operations there.

Beatty told Johnson and Trujillo, “I think you just got caught up in a bad situation.”

Mayor Terry D’Arcy spoke briefly on the matter, saying, “We do need to help mitigate that.”

Johnson and several of the other dismissed staff have since gone to the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66 in Joliet to work as volunteers.

“All I can tell you as a character witness is that they’re good people,” Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66 Executive Director Ron Romero told the council. “They help the museum.”