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Officials consider tactics to ease overcrowding at county prison

Using house arrest more often to ease congestion and seeking a partnership with Clarks Summit State Hospital to provide better care for mentally ill inmates are tactics officials are exploring

By Kyle Wind
The Times-Tribune

SCRANTON, Pa. — Using house arrest more often to ease congestion and seeking a partnership with Clarks Summit State Hospital to provide better care for mentally ill inmates are tactics officials are exploring for Lackawanna County Prison.

A surging population, combined with a growing portion of the prison’s staff on family and medical leave, continues to strain the operation and run up overtime costs, Warden Robert McMillan told the county prison board on Wednesday.

The prison has 174 correctional officers on its staff to oversee an average of 1,010 inmates, which Mr. McMillan said is enough when everyone is able to work. The problem is more than 20 percent of the staff has approved Family and Medical Leave Act time.

Meanwhile, the warden said the prison’s Lackawanna County inmate population surged from about 500 in 2011 to more than 700 now — what he described as partly a consequence of the region’s heroin epidemic.

Overtime costs jumped from $1.34 million in 2012 to $1.97 million in 2013. As of Sept. 9, overtime costs had hit $1.29 million of a budgeted $1.8 million for the year.

“We need to have a broader conversation on prison generally and incarceration to see whether there is a better alternative option with the drug cases, with the mental health issues,” said county Commissioner Corey O’Brien.

Since 44 percent of the prison’s inmates are awaiting trial, Mr. McMillan suggested county officials explore more pretrial services to modify bail and release nonviolent prisoners with ankle bracelets that track their whereabouts.

Also, four out of 10 inmates inform the prison they have some type of mental illness, Mr. McMillan said.

Businessman Bob Bolus, who has been a Lackawanna County Prison inmate, reflected on the staff’s difficulty handling a troubled inmate who made a mess with feces.

“There are a lot of people with issues that can be helped,” Mr. Bolus said. “They can be helped outside this environment. You can’t lock them in a cell and think you can solve their problems.”

The prison refers some troubled inmates to Norristown and Torrance state hospitals, but the institutions have waiting lists that can last for months.

County commissioners wanted to explore a partnership with Clarks Summit State Hospital to better handle mentally ill inmates, but District Attorney Andy Jarbola said “that is not going to happen” given state cutbacks at the facility.

Despite issues the prison board raised, Mr. Jarbola said Lackawanna County is significantly ahead of the curve with pretrial services, referring people to health and human services agencies and alternative treatment programs like the drug, DUI and mental health courts.

Prosecutors and judicial officials are always trying to further improve the system, Mr. Jarbola said.

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