By Andrew Seidman
The Philadelphia Inquirer
GLOUCESTER COUNTY, Pa. — Three unions representing 120 Gloucester County corrections officers filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to block a move by the county to ship all inmates to other counties, a decision that could result in layoffs.
On Wednesday, the Gloucester County and Cumberland County freeholders entered into a shared services agreement in which Gloucester would send at least 100 of its 270 male inmates, currently in Woodbury, to Cumberland’s jail in Bridgeton.
Gloucester County is courting Salem County to take the rest of the inmates, and would seek to send them elsewhere if it declined.
The plan is scheduled to take effect July 1.
The suit, filed in Superior Court in Woodbury, seeks to invalidate the resolution that authorizes the agreement and prevent its implementation. It names the two freeholder boards as defendants.
It alleges that the agreement does not lay out plans for affected employees, such as a transfer or termination from employment. It says such a plan is required by the Uniform Shared Services and Consolidation Act.
The complaint also alleges that the boards did not file their agreement with the state Civil Service Commission before voting on it, and that it does not preserve the officers’ seniority, tenure, and pension rights.
“The main problem is there has been an overall disregard and arrogance, if I may say, of the law and also of how it’s going to affect these people’s lives,” said Mark Cimino, who filed the suit.
Debra Sellitto, a spokeswoman for Gloucester County, said Thursday afternoon that the county had not received the lawsuit and that it “does not typically comment on matters of litigation.”
A spokesperson for Cumberland County could not be reached.
At a turbulent meeting Wednesday, the Gloucester County board said the agreement would save $10 million a year through reductions in salaries, operating expenses, and other costs, and provide Cumberland with needed revenue.
Corrections officers, some near tears, countered that the move would jeopardize public safety.
The board pledged to find as many open positions in other counties as possible for the officers. Freeholder Director Robert M. Damminger said it was likely that corrections officers would be “displaced.”
Gloucester County outsourced its juvenile and female inmate populations to Camden, Salem, and Cumberland Counties in 2009 and 2010. If the new agreement takes effect, Gloucester will become the first county in the state to outsource all of its inmates.
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