‘Why all the secrecy?’ PA lawmakers demand answers on proposed prison closures

A local lawmaker organized a House Republican Policy Committee hearing Monday to discuss the impacts of Rockview state prison and Quehanna Boot Camp’s proposed closures, calling for greater transparency with the decision-making process.

State Representatives Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte, and Dallas Kephart, R-Cambria/Clearfield, jointly hosted the hearing at the Ramada Hotel in State College, where 13 other lawmakers joined the pair in exploring possible impacts of the facilities’ closures while sharing a unified message: keep them open.

Many of the lawmakers — Benninghoff included — spoke about their frustrations with what they say has been a secretive process so far that’s lacked accurate supporting data.

“When we run into each other and when I talk to other people, we all ask questions [about Rockview’s proposed closure], but nobody seems to have the answers,” Benninghoff said to his fellow lawmakers. “The lack of transparency in this process I find extremely frustrating. It’s counter intuitive to the democratic process and what representative government should be about. ... What I’m getting to is, why all the secrecy?”

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration has pitched its proposal as a way to save the state tens of millions of dollars in the face of shrinking state prison populations, high vacancy and turnover rates among corrections officers and massive overtime payments.

Nearly 660 people are employed at Rockview. If the proposal is implemented, the DOC said every affected staff member will be guaranteed a job offer at their existing pay and classification. But it has not made any guarantees about which facility workers would be relocated to or the shift they would work.

Benninghoff’s claims of a clouded decision-making process were echoed by other lawmakers who shared experiences of attempting to gather further information on the facilities’ proposed closures, with little to no avail.

State Sen. Wayne Langerholc, R-Johnstown, recalled a Pennsylvania Department of Corrections representative disputing boot camp recidivism rates that Langerholc presented to them at the public hearing held in Karthaus last week, with the representative claiming that the state’s numbers were indeed correct.

Despite the confidence by the representative, “multiple requests” by both Langerholc and Kephart to receive the state’s official numbers have been left unanswered.

In February, the DOC released a memo outlining the proposed closures, citing that Rockview and Quehanna would need $74 million and $5.7 million in upgrades to remain open, respectively — but those numbers, as well as the current status of some of the DOC’s recommended repairs, have also been questioned officials.

According to John Eckenrode, president of the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association, many of the DOC’s listed “crucial projects” have already been completed, like the installation of a multi-million dollar perimeter fencing system, the resurfacing and repainting of the prison’s exterior, a roof repair and a repaving of the prison’s main and perimeter roads.

The lawmakers got the chance to see the upgrades for themselves before the hearing on a guided tour through Rockview, with several remarking about how eye-opening the tour was.

Many lawmakers and officials at the hearing said that a tour of the prison would also do the DOC’s steering committee good.

“We’re basing the closing of two facilities that’s going to affect around 1,000 employees on a six-page report that was offered by people we don’t even know,” Eckenrode said. “There’s a reason that they’re so inconsistent in their report. As far as we know, these people have never actually been on site.”

The state DOC has stood by the numbers in its report.

“All state correctional institutions, including SCI Rockview, require and receive ongoing maintenance,” a DOC spokeswoman wrote in an email to the CDT in February. “Projects have been done in recent years at Rockview to keep the facility operational, but there are still tens of millions of dollars worth of repairs that would be required if it were to remain open.”

Earlier this year, the Centre County Commissioners also noted discrepancies between the DOC’s numbers and their own, and warned that the closing of the facilities could bring a “potential disaster” to the surrounding areas.

That fear was also shared by those at the hearing. Eckenrode said that the transport of thousands of inmates to other facilities would likely incite violence, given the community-like hierarchical systems found inside each SCI facility.

“What people overlook and don’t understand, if you don’t work inside the facilities, is that every prison is like its own city,” Eckenrode said. “What’s going to happen is we’re going to create a power struggle, because we’re going to introduce new criminals into a new city.”

When prison violence occurs, it also jeopardizes the lives of those working at the facilities, he said.

Greg Scott, president of the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County, spoke at the meeting about the economic impacts that the prison’s closure would bring to its surrounding areas.

According to Scott, if the facilities close, 892 jobs would be lost, along with $118 million per year in Centre, Clearfield and Clinton counties — $50 million from wage loss, $36 million from the loss of spin-off jobs created the corrections industry and $32 million from local purchases loss.

The proposed closures would also cause large community-level impact as well, Scott said, as the areas surrounding the facilities would be losing “more than 1,000 work hours per month” that supports municipalities, nonprofits and community events.

“Think of the Centre County Grange Fair, an event that brings in $21 million over just 10 days,” Scott said. “This event would not be possible at the current scale without Rockview support. Inmates work for six to seven weeks leading up to the event, largely handling construction and setup.”

Another impact that the lawmakers are concerned about is the lack of resources available to inmates if the proposed closures were to go through, such as the State Drug Treatment Program, the Pennsylvania Correctional Industry’s wood shop and furniture restoration shops and Rockview’s Forestry Unit.

If the facilities close, and the programs are eliminated, Benninghoff believes that the DOC would be doing a disservice to the very definition of the word “corrections.”

“Think about it, what does the word ‘corrections’ actually mean? Is it just punishing someone for doing something wrong, or ultimately, is the goal to try and change that behavior correctly, so that they’re ready to re-enter society?” Benninghoff said.

Benninghoff isn’t the only local representative who’s been rallying against the closure of the facilities — state Rep. Paul Takac, D-College Township, held five community forums to discuss the proposed closures, and state Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Rush Township, spoke out against the closures at a rally in Harrisburg.

“If the general public really cares about this issue and wants to have some sort of impact, they need to go straight to the top and contact the Shapiro administration,” Benninghoff said. “Those people at the top need to hear from you, they need to hear your stories.”

He also encouraged the public to attend the DOC’s public hearing on Rockview, which was scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Bald Eagle Area High School auditorium, 751 S. Eagle Valley Road.

This story was originally published April 15, 2025 at 12:07 PM.