SPRINGFIELD -- A decision on the future of the controversial Tamms Correctional Center is now in Gov. Pat Quinn's hands.

Earlier this week, the state's top prison chief forwarded his review of the southern Illinois super-maximum-security lockup to the governor.

Details of what Illinois Department of Corrections Acting Director Michael Randle recommended were not available Friday.

A Quinn spokeswoman offered no timetable for when decisions might be made.

"The governor and his staff will thoroughly review the plan and make a decision on how to proceed," noted spokeswoman Marlena Jentz in an email Friday.

Randle, who joined the administration in May, was asked by Quinn to review the operation of the facility in wake of criticism by human rights groups and some lawmakers.

The groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have raised concerns that the length of stay for inmates at Tamms in solitary confinement violates human rights.

Inmates are generally sent to the facility after they cause problems at other Illinois prisons, whether by fighting with other inmates or by attacking guards and prison staff.

The facility was opened in 1995 to house 500 "worst of the worst" inmates. It was originally designed to serve as a safety valve for other maximum-security lockups by allowing officials to remove troublesome prisoners from the general population.

Lawmakers who represent the region say the facility is serving its purpose.

"My suggestion to Governor Quinn is to leave it alone," state Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, said Friday. "I don't think it's broke.

"This governor, instead of listening to people in Chicago, he should listen to the people down here," Forby added.