Some view them as a drain on society, but to Ogle County these criminals are a way of pumping up the budget.

"We house unsentenced detainees."

Ogle County makes one million dollars a year from a contract with the U.S. Marshall's Service. Sheriff Greg Beitel says this proves his staff could handle the toughest of bad guys. Even those potentially locked up at the Thomson Correctional Center. However that doesn't mean he's completely sold on it housing Gitmo detainees.

Ogle County leaders say there's still a lot of uncertainty. For one would Thomson make them lose their contract with the U.S. Marshall's Service and two will they benefit at all.

"If they're on our soil will it draw other people there that will draw us some headaches as far as crowd control and demonstrations and things like that. They (federal authorities) told us they'd make grant money available to local law enforcement to beef up our budgets. We'll see if that really happens. I'll believe it when the check is on my desk," says Beitel.

That's a check Ogle County needs right now. It's in the process of laying off nine Sheriff's Department employees. In light of a ten-percent budget cut. And Thomson could be the answer.

"The Federal Government will infuse up to 85 million dollars a year into the local economy with salaries, extended work that could come from as extension of the prison being in operation," says State Representative Jim Sacia.

He's one of very few Republicans to support the President's plan.

"I'm not breaking ranks with anyone. I'm standing up for the people of Illinois. To me this is a perfectly rational sensible thing to do. It would be different if we didn't already have 340 of the worst of the worst on American soil," he says.

Sacia says the worst of the worst Are terrorists locked up in federal facilities. And actually 40 of them are in the Marion Prison, located about six hours south of here. He says we haven't seen any problems thus far. And as far as jobs, while at least half of them will be military positions, he says there's still between two-and-five hundred local jobs that would be created.

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin will be touring the Thomson Correctional Center tomorrow with a few other members of Congress. They will be joined by federal authorities and the Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections.