SPRINGFIELD - Illinois prison inmates and their guards could be forced to kick the habit in the coming months.

Although an all-out ban on tobacco within the state's lockups has been opposed by state prison officials for years, talks are under way that could mean lights out for lighting up.

The Blagojevich administration announced this week that it is reopening negotiations with the state's largest employee union on the issue of smoking in state-owned and state-leased facilities.

Recent efforts to ban smoking in Springfield have spurred the talks. While the focus of those discussions has centered on banning smoking within state office buildings, Justin DeJong, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, said the subject of smoking in state prisons has arisen.

"That's obviously a component," said DeJong.

Whether the discussions result in prisons being included in the new state policy remains unknown.

"In terms of moving forward, we're at the bargaining table with AFSCME to decide what's the best way to proceed," said DeJong.

"We're aware of it," added Derek Schnapp, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Corrections.

DeJong left open the possibility that a change could be made be made under the current American Federation of County, State and Municipal Employees contract, which doesn't expire until 2008.

"That's dependent on how negotiations with the union go," said DeJong.

It is not the first time that smoking in prisons has been debated.

For the past two years, attempts by Illinois lawmakers to ban smoking in prisons have gotten little traction in the General Assembly, despite assertions that it could save the state money in health-care costs.

AFSCME has previously expressed concern that banning tobacco could create a black market for the product, thus strengthening the power of gangs within prisons.

More than two dozen states already have banned smoking in prisons. California, for example, made tobacco off-limits in July 2005.

In Illinois, only one prison, the maximum-security Tamms Correctional Center in Alexander County, is smoke-free. But, the Department of Corrections attempts to accommodate nonsmoking inmates who don't want to share a cell with a smoker.