6/16/16
by News Department on 06/16/16Prison population down...
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.
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.
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.
Baldwin said as long as the warden has the authority to send inmates to other counties, there is no reason the prison should exceed that level so there is no need for this restriction.
The average population at the Schuylkill County prison in May was 291with the only triple celling — three to a cell —in the medical area.
