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Setting the Record Straight About the County Prison
Posted
3-8-07
This is an opportune time to set the record
straight about the Westmoreland County Prison. Too often lately,
the daily papers have been spinning tales of controversy when
there are none. Is our prison perfect? Hardly. But no
institutions are.
Prisons are a tough place to be whether you are
behind bars or if you are employed there. But as county prisons
go, I am confident we operate one of the better in the
Commonwealth. And I am not alone in that belief. The Bureau of
Corrections, which sets the standards for the operation of
prisons in Pennsylvania, recently gave our facility a 100
percent rating. That rating is difficult to obtain, and we are
proud that the people who really understand what is critical in
the operation of prisons judge us well.
It is important to understand the role of county
prisons in the Commonwealth. Initially, the intended
responsibility of county prisons was to be a place where people
were detained until their trial. Once their case was
adjudicated, they were to be sentenced to a state correctional
facility. So years ago, counties did not need to operate large,
costly facilities.
But as the years have gone by and more laws have
been passed and we incarcerate more people per capita than any
other nation in the world, the role of county prisons have
changed dramatically. First of all, the Legislature has allowed
criminals sentenced to shorter sentences to be housed in county
prisons. It has also given judges the discretion to sentence to
county prison people facing up to five years. Add to the
scenario drunk driving laws that did not exist a generation ago,
and rather than housing a few hundred inmates, we house more
than 600 daily.
The courts and county government have not sat
idly by while our inmate population has grown. We have worked
with the courts to fund programs that keep nonviolent offenders
out of our facility, yet under house arrest where their
whereabouts are monitored electronically. And while offenders
pay a fee, we all help subsidize the program.
We have also taken measures to make our prison a
less hospitable place so inmates don't want to return. We've
instituted a $10 per day rent. This fee is admittedly sometimes
difficult to collect, but it has raised enough money to pay the
salaries of a few correction officers. And if we get a repeat
offender who comes back to our facility with money, we take
whatever we can to cover outstanding "rent".
The Commonwealth also will not pay for the
healthcare of their inmates in our facility. So we must spend
more than a million dollars a year to ensure that minimum
coverage is available for inmates. We have contracted that
service to a company that specializes in the service, and it has
done a good enough job keeping costs down the county has
received contract rebates every year.
We have also contracted the management of the
food service for our prison. The large food service company buys
in bulk and has done such a good job that costs are down to
about 85 cents per meal while still meeting all nutritional
standards.
Have we had problems at our facility? Of course
we have. Several years ago we had a problem with a drug kingpin
(who should not have even been in our facility) corrupting
employees. And when this activity was discovered, we dealt with
it accordingly. There have been instances of inmates being
released too soon and a few cases of them being held too long.
But those are not dramatic affairs that condemn our prison. We
have worked to correct those communication issues with the
courts and the Clerk of Courts office.
Running a county prison, or any prison, is not
an easy task. First of all, no inmate or their families are
happy they are there. It is a demanding job for our employees,
and it is a growing expense for us, the taxpayers of
Westmoreland County. As it does in many areas, the Commonwealth
pushes more of the responsibility and financial burden on to
counties. But I want to assure you that we are facing those
challenges each and every day. While mistakes will be made there
is infinitely more progress, and it is being done so in a
fiscally responsible manner.
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