Department of Corrections Affecting County Prisons Statewide
The Armstrong County Jail in Rayburn Township will only be contracted to jail nine State parole violators in 2016 rather than the 30 inmates that Armstrong County Commissioners budgeted for (KP File Photo).
by Jonathan Weaver
More details into a state Department of Corrections decision that will affect Armstrong County and the 2016 budget are now available.
Thursday, County Commissioner Chair Pat Fabian and Commissioner George Skamai told residents that the Armstrong County Jail would only be contracted to incarcerate nine State parole offenders in 2016 – more than 20 less than the Rayburn Township jail was expected to be allowed.
According to Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Press Secretary Susan McNaughton, because of a current reduced need, the State is reducing some of the contracted county jail beds it has with a number of county prisons.
The overall reduction will be approximately 500 beds statewide.
“The decision involved a collaborative discussion with PA Board of Probation and Parole, centering around what made the most sense for the state prisons that would be absorbing the parole violators, as well as transportation concerns for parole agents,” McNaughton wrote in an e-mail.
Commissioners budgeted the County would receive $400,000 in revenue in 2016 before the bed reduction was announced.
“You can do the math and see that we’re going to lose significant revenue that we budgeted for,” Skamai said.
Commissioners estimated the County received $70 for each parole violator while it only costs taxpayers about $50 per inmate.
Director of Administration Jen Long said about $407,000 in revenue was received through December 2015 from housing State parole violators. She said, while the dollar amount per day increased, it does not guarantee the full number of inmates at all times.
“That’s going to take probably two-thirds of the budget right there,” Long said. “That’s going to be a big hit.”
“It adds up,” Skamai added.
Armstrong County received more than $600,000 in 2014.
Local News | jweaver January 11, 2016
1 Comment
Other Links to this Post
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
By jorn jensen, January 11, 2016 @ 9:08 AM
This isn’t even newsworthy. If you have $400,000 less income, spend $400,000 less. Lay off guards, cut back on expenses including elsewhere other than the jail. That is the real world.