The inmate population at the Schuylkill County prison has finally fallen below its maximum capacity with the transfer of 30 inmates to two facilities outside the county. However, the county prison board is now considering transferring more inmates to a third facility as the female population continues to climb.
“This is an area we are going to concentrate on now that we had this mass movement,” Warden Gene Berdanier said Wednesday at the monthly prison board meeting.
Within the last week, 27 men were transferred from the county prison to Delaware County’s George W. Hill Correctional Facility, Thornton. Three women are being housed at the State Correctional Institution/Muncy. Agreements with those facilities were authorized in November for $60 a day per inmate. The state Department of Corrections provided the transportation and the county was only responsible to pay tolls and gas.
On Wednesday, Berdanier said the prison had 274 inmates, including 61 women. The approved capacity at the prison is 277. Fewer than 30 men were tripled in cells and eight women were in tripled cells. Prior to the transfer, about 47 men were tripled in cells.
The average inmate population was 294 for February. The average female population for the month was 48.
“I had a conversation with (state Department of Corrections) Secretary John Wetzel last week and we told him our concerns for triple-celled females because we have been using the State Correctional Institute in Muncy,” commissioners Chairman and Prison Board Chairman George F. Halcovage Jr. said. “He was then in a separate conversation with Michael Pipe, who is commissioner chairman in Centre County.”
Halcovage said the Centre County Correctional Facility already houses female inmates from other counties and has offered to take inmates from Schuylkill County. While the initial cost that was discussed was $65 a day per inmate, Halcovage was confident that figure would come down with commitments from the county in the agreement.
“We will be in discussions to try to solidify a good number that makes sense for them but also for us,” Halcovage said.
Halcovage also said the Schuylkill and Centre county prisons share the same medical provider in Prime Care Medical, Harrisburg. He said there may be an agreement ready before the prison board meets again next month.
“We feel there is a very positive opportunity for Centre County to take on our overflow of female prisoners that are triple celled right now,” Halcovage said. “We want to resolve the triple-celling situation, however, throughout the state there is a problem with overcrowding for females.”
In July 2015, the state DOC made an agreement with the county to reduce its inmate population or risk not being allowed to house any additional prisoners. The agreement to bring the inmate population back to its approved capacity of 277 was designed to reduce triple celling at the facility. Triple celling refers to three inmates being housed in a cell meant for one or two.
“The prison board thanks the leadership of the staff at the prison in moving this initiative forward,” Halcovage said. “I give our staff all the credit in the world for doing an outstanding job.”
Berdanier said the ideal population at the prison would be about 250.
In other news, the board voted to terminate a suspended corrections officer.
Last week, the board held a special meeting to indefinitely suspend Zachary Broomell pending the outcome of an investigation. Halcovage said he could not discuss the details regarding the personnel matter, but no criminal charges have been filed.
President Judge William E. Baldwin made the motion to terminate and it was seconded by Controller Christy Joy. The motion was approved with District Attorney Christine Holman abstaining.