Now that the inmate population at the Schuylkill County prison is well below its approved capacity, President Judge William E. Baldwin has made the case that the state Department of Corrections end its restriction on the county prison accepting newly sentenced criminals.
“As long as the warden has the authority to send people to other counties, then there is no reason we should exceed that level so there is no need for this restriction,” Baldwin, who also sits on the county prison board, said Wednesday at the monthly board meeting.
On May 4, the state DOC ordered that the Schuylkill County prison could no longer take any additional prisoners sentenced between six months to five years until its average monthly inmate population is at or below its approved capacity of 277. Inmates serving sentences of two years or more can be sent to state facilities. The DOC said it would review its decision in three months.
Since then, the county has entered into agreements to house inmates at other facilities. There were 209 inmates at the prison Wednesday with 47 being housed elsewhere: 34 at George W. Hill Correctional Facility, Thornton; eight at the Centre County Correctional Facility, Bellefonte; and five were sent Wednesday to the Columbia County Correctional Facility, Bloomsburg.
It costs $60 to $65 a day per inmate to house them at those facilities and the commissioners are negotiating a similar housing agreement with Berks County.
The average population at the Schuylkill County prison in May was 291. Warden Gene Berdanier said that the only triple celling — three to a cell — was in the medical area.
“For the last three weeks, the average population is 227,” he said.
Baldwin said he is hopeful the DOC will consider the request since the county has been able to significantly reduce its inmate population and the problems the restriction has caused the courts.
“It just doesn’t seem fair at this point,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin said the target population for the prison is 240 in case of a sudden influx of inmates. He also said that adult probation is looking to start a new treatment program in the prison to prevent inmates from returning and possibly earn jail time. If the population can stay about 240, Baldwin said the prison may be able to house those inmates in their own block and increase the program’s chance of success.
In other matters, the prison currently has vacancies for a full-time and 10 part-time correctional officers.