SPRINGFIELD - Illinois should adopt a long-term planning process to determine whether prisons, mental health facilities and other large institutions should be shuttered or improved, says a top Illinois Republican.

Just days before Gov. Pat Quinn is expected to announce a slew of more facility closures as part of a budget-cutting proposal, state Treasurer Dan Rutherford says long range planning would help better prepare communities and employees for the changes that would come if a facility is closed.

"It is not good business management when announcements are made to close a state facility without planning ahead," Rutherford said. "We simply cannot allow important decisions to be made without practical and thoughtful long-term planning."

Quinn already is moving to shut down the Jacksonville Developmental Center and a psychiatric hospital in Tinley Park. The governor also plans to announce additional closures when he unveils his budget blueprint for the 2013 fiscal year on Wednesday.

At least four centers serving developmentally disabled residents are expected to be in the cross-hairs within the next two years. Multiple juvenile detention facilities also are on the chopping block.

"It is obvious there is not a real long-range plan in place," Rutherford said.

Rutherford's idea is similar to one he floated in 2008, when former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was attempting to close the Pontiac Correctional Center.

Rutherford, then a state senator representing the Pontiac area, and Senate Minority Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, said a moratorium should be imposed on all prison closures until a commission can study whether closures are warranted.

A Quinn spokeswoman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Kurt Erickson can be reached at kurt.erickson@lee.net or 217-782-4043)