COUNTY COMMISSIONERS: 2-1 vote to allow as many as 25 prisoners

Pa. inmate deal passes

By Anne Danahy

BELLEFONTE — Centre County prison will soon become home to as many as 25 state inmates under a contract two commissioners said will help balance the county budget.

CDT file

The Centre County Correctional Facility on July 19, 2006. Centre County commissioners, facing revenue losses due to housing fewer out-of-county inmates, voted 2-1 to house as many as 25 state inmates. The deal is expected to raise between $250,000 and $350,000 for the county.

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The board voted 2-1 Tuesday, with Board of Commissioners Chairman Jon Eich casting the no vote, to house the state inmates for $55 a day per inmate.

In May the state put out a call to counties to help with its overcrowding until it finishes building new jails.

“I think it makes sense for the county to bring in the revenue,” said Commissioner Rich Rogers.

He said the county had counted on getting $510,000 for housing inmates from other counties, but will come nowhere close to that. It costs the county more than $6 million to run the prison.

The agreement, Rogers said, comes with minimal risks.

“The state needs us, so they’re not going to be sending us problems,” Rogers said later.

The inmates could begin arriving soon. Department of Corrections spokeswoman Susan Bensinger said in an e-mail that “as soon as an agreement is reached between Centre County officials and the DOC, the transfer of inmates will begin.”

Commissioner Steve Dershem said the county gets to review the records of inmates before they’re brought to the prison, and if any problems do come up, they can be returned to the state at nearby Rockview prison.

The county plans to hire five part-time employees to help with the extra work. Rogers estimates the county will make $250,000 to $350,000 after those and other expenses are covered.

Eich said he is opposed in principle to the idea of housing out-of-county inmates, except those from neighboring counties.

“I think the highest priority is to protect the quality of life here in Centre County,” Eich said, noting the area’s low crime rate.

He said he thinks it will take more than five part-time employees to watch the inmates 24 hours a day. He said he is also concerned that there is no policy in place to keep inmates in a separate “pod.” At a recent prison board meeting, Warden Ed DeSabato said while initially the state inmates could be kept separate, he couldn’t guarantee that will always be possible.

Eich also raised concern about whether the county will get paid if the state doesn’t pass a 2009-10 budget by the June 30 deadline.

Bensinger said the state’s discussions with the county have addressed “the possibility of a budget impasse and the fact that the county will be made whole with the passing of the state budget.”

Anne Danahy can be reached at 231-4648.