11/22/16
by News Department on 11/22/16Prison numbers close to limit...
The number of inmates in the Schuylkill County prison last month neared the state’s census limit. Warden Eugene Berdanier said the peak census was 266 in October, however, that number had dropped as of Wednesday to 256, with 39 inmates being housed out of the county.
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections set the cap in May to relieve overcrowding as the overflow, earlier this year, forced the jail to house as many as three inmates in cells designed to hold two, which is only allowed by the state in temporary, emergency situations.
The county has since begun to house inmates at jails in Delaware, Centre, Columbia and Berks. Berdanier said negotiations are underway with Snyder, Clinton and Lehigh counties to handle Schuylkill’s overflow.
But the diversion program is expensive, costing Schuylkill $60 a day per inmate to house them outside the county.
The cost has county officials looking at more cost-efficient, long-term solutions, including a drug court expected to begin early next year, programs to help inmates transition back into the community, and possibly a pre-release center.
