By Mark Gilger Jr.
Republican & Herald
POTTSVILLE, Pa. -- The Schuylkill County Prison Board is still reviewing candidates for seven vacant corrections officer positions.
The seven vacancies were created last month when the employees took jobs at federal prisons and were not required to submit a two-weeks notice.
Commissioner and prison board Chairman George F. Halcovage Jr. said Thursday that five candidates are currently being evaluated and a decision may be made as soon as next week.
The board said two air conditioning units at the prison are being replaced. The units in the medical area and control room B stopped working earlier this month. Both were installed when the prison was remodeled in 1986.
The county recently awarded two separate contracts to Antz Energy Systems Inc. to install the units worth $5,506 and $4,382.
The unit in the control room was replaced in three days, Warden Gene Berdanier said. The unit in the medical department should be completed by today, he said.
In other news, the average inmate population has gone up over the month.
For the month of March, there was an average of 286 inmates in the prison. That’s up from 281 in February and 271 in January.
On Wednesday, Berdanier said there were 312 inmates at the prison. That figure included 56 women. Eleven offenders joined the pre-release program in March. The program had 39 offenders for the month and saved 878 total jail days at the prison. Two participants were removed for violations.
The vocational rehabilitation program completed 21 jobs in 21 days in March. Three were community service jobs and 18 were for the county.