Centre County commissioners urge the DOC to keep prisons open to avoid ‘potential disaster’

Centre County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to send a letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections opposing the proposed closures of Rockview state prison and Quehanna Boot Camp, warning of a “potential disaster” that could come.

The four-page letter will be sent just over a month after Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration announced that it would be looking to close the facilities, citing a potential cost savings of $120 million.

The letter’s two main goals are to “demonstrate that the proposed closures do not address the root issues identified,” and to “lay out a preliminary model of the resulting economic impacts to the counties of Centre, Clearfield and Clinton,” Commissioner Mark Higgins said.

The closure of the facilities would bring the three counties an estimated economic loss of about $118 million per year, the letter states. The commissioners also aired concerns about the impact on the area’s population, relocation of those incarcerated and other ripple effects.

Does the DOC’s proposal add up?

One of the commissioners’ greatest concerns revolves around the negative economic impacts that the area could see each year if Rockview state prison in Benner Township and Quehanna Boot Camp in Clearfield County close.

Of the estimated $118 million annual economic loss, an estimated $50 million is from wage loss and $36 million is from the loss of spin-off jobs created from the corrections industry. Another $32 million is estimated in local purchases loss, and the letter estimates a $41,390 loss annually in per capita funding for local governments.

“One of the most crucial points here I think is that the savings at the state level really are being taken from the local counties in the form of losses at a local level,” Commissioner Amber Concepcion said. “When we’re thinking about the proposed $120 million in savings that the state is considering from the closure of Rockview and Quehanna, much of that is a one-time savings in terms of capital improvements that they would not be doing, whereas the losses are really an every year cost to the county.”

Of the DOC’s estimated $120 million in savings, a large chunk is from not having to upgrade the facilities. The DOC’s report recommending the closures said that 110-year-old Rockview state prison would require $74 million in upgrades over the next five years if it were to remain open.

But the commissioners’ letter notes the DOC’s estimations are “likely overstated.”

“Significant components of these renovations have either already occurred or would be slated to occur regardless of whether the facilities remain in operation,” the letter reads. “For instance, testimonies from inmates and staff at SCI Rockview confirm that fencing, roof repairs and updates to the boiler system, among other renovations, have already been completed.”

The DOC recently told the Centre Daily Times that it stands by the figure.

“All state correctional institutions, including SCI Rockview, require and receive ongoing maintenance,” a DOC spokeswoman wrote in an email. “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.”

The commissioners’ letter also notes that programs that Rockview and Quehanna offer to reduce recidivism save taxpayers money. Taking inmates out of the programs will, according to the letter, “effectively increase operational costs.”

From 1999 to 2020, Quehanna Boot Camp successfully graduated over 10,000 individuals, leading to an estimated cost savings of nearly $99 million during that period, according to a letter Clearfield County District Attorney Ryan Sayers wrote to Shapiro.

“You can make cuts and adjustments now, but in the future, we will reap what we sow — as the costs are redistributed,” the commissioners’ letter reads. “At best, closures may achieve savings in the short term, but they do not solve the root causes of cost growth and will likely introduce new, harder-to-resolve issues.”

A loss of local residents

Other concerns raised in the commissioners’ letter focused on the impracticality of relocating incarcerated people, employees and their families to other prison facilities and the areas around them.

If the DOC’s proposed closures are implemented, the nearly 900 employees working at the two facilities will be guaranteed a job offer of equal pay and classification. But the commissioners said the effort to redistribute employees would be “untenable.”

The commissioners expect roughly 20%, or 178, of those employees to remain in the tri-county area to be transferred to Benner, Houtzdale or Smithfield state prisons, although the letter notes that between those three facilities, there are only 88 vacant jobs.

“The steering committee tries to quell these (employee relocation) concerns by identifying the number of employees eligible for retirement, whose positions could be filled long-term by the transplant employees,” the letter reads. “Still, if or when these employee transfers yield fiscal gains is unclear. The ripple effects of bumping thousands of SCI staff Commonwealth-wide will devastate recruiting and overtime costs, possibly for years.”

It wouldn’t just be staff members leaving the area though — their families would likely leave with them, bringing the estimated amount of relocated individuals to 1,643. The prison and boot camp also hold 2,496 incarcerated people, meaning that a total 4,139 individuals could leave the area if the facilities close.

If the inmates were to be transferred to other facilities across the commonwealth, the commissioners warn that it could have a number of “substantial deleterious effects.”

Many of the inmates at the prison and boot camp take advantage of specialty treatment programs, including the State Drug Treatment Program, the Pennsylvania Correctional Industry’s wood shop and furniture restoration shops and Rockview’s Forestry Unit.

According to the letter, these programs have “repeatedly demonstrated that they promote rehabilitation and significantly reduce recidivism,” with results that have not been replicated at other state prison facilities.

Relocation can also pose threats to the physical safety of inmates, especially vulnerable populations, the letter states.

While the commissioners wrote that the DOC’s proposal is logistically feasible with its shrinking prison population, the letter notes that if that should change in the future, the cost to build a new facility the size of Rockview could be well more than $300 million.

Concerns of community leaders, such as those aired Tuesday by Centre County’s commissioners, are part of the DOC’s monthslong review of the proposal.

Public hearings are another piece of the process, with a hearing in Clearfield County scheduled for 5-8 p.m. April 10 at the Community Alliance Church, 34136 Frenchville-Karthaus Highway., Karthaus. Centre County’s public hearing has not yet been scheduled, according to Higgins.

Separate from the required public hearings, state Rep. Paul Takac, D-College Township, has scheduled a handful of forums through early April.

This story was originally published March 4, 2025 at 8:24 PM.