SPRINGFIELD – A handful of Democratic lawmakers turned up the heat on Gov. Pat Quinn on Monday, urging him to drop his plan to close some Illinois prisons and vowing to restore money to run them when legislators return to Springfield next month.

Pointing to an adult correctional system that has nearly 16,000 more inmates than it was designed for and a court ruling demanding Quinn slow down and consider prison employees' safety concerns, lawmakers from central and northern Illinois issued statements or spoke at press events, urging the Democratic governor to reconsider.

"Closing prisons in a system that's already overcrowded, it's illogical to say that's possible or safe," Sen. Michael Frerichs told The Associated Press as he headed to a news conference at the Danville prison in his district. It has double the 900 inmates for which it was designed.