Schuylkill County would take a hard economic hit if Pennsylvania chooses to close the State Correctional Institution at Frackville, elected officials and prison experts told legislative committees Monday.

The institution is on a list of five from which the state Department of Corrections on Thursday expects to choose two to close to save money. The prisons would close by June 30.The DOC says the number of inmates is falling, and the remaining 24 prisons could absorb the inmates displaced by the closures.DOC Secretary John E. Wetzel said the state wants to lease the closed prisons to the federal government to house illegal immigrants.“It would be a good income source and keep the economics going in those communities,” he said.The prisons are Frackville, in Ryan Township; Retreat, Luzerne County; Waymart, Wayne County; Pittsburgh, Allegheny County; and Mercer in Mercer County.OppositionThose who testified at a joint Senate Majority Policy and Judiciary committees hearing opposed closing any of the prisons, saying they doubt the state would realize savings in the long run, and that employees, their families and inmates would suffer.Wetzel and his staff defended the plan.Testimony included concerns about an increase in inmate violence as population increases in the remaining facilities after inmates are moved; and whether there will be enough jobs for displaced staff at other prisons and whether they will be within reasonable travel distances.The DOC on Thursday expects to release a study of the local economic impact of the closings and how the buildings could be used.Local elected officials oppose closing SCI Frackville.“This just doesn’t make any sense,” said state Sen. David G. Argall, R-Schuylkill/Berks and chair of Senate Majority Policy.They also contend that 20 days — the state announced the intention to close the prisons on Jan. 6 — is not enough time to make a responsible decision.“Today’s hearings confirmed that rushing to close two prisons could have significant and irreversible economic and public safety consequences for those communities where these facilities operate,” said state Sen. John T. Yudichak, D-Luzerne/Carbon.“From the beginning, I have asked the governor to ignore Thursday’s deadline and allow the budgetary process to develop so that we can exhaust all of our options and present a balanced and responsible budget that will keep all five prisons open until Pennsylvania’s prison population has been reduced to its operational capacity.”Yudichak and others questioned the DOC’s contention that inmate populations are dropping.He said that while the state’s prison population has declined slightly, it still remains, at over 49,000 inmates, 36 percent higher than it was in 2000.He also questioned the savings.“You had to save $180 million at the direction of the governor’s office. Clearly, you can’t get to those numbers closing two prisons,” Yudichak said.Wetzel said overtime is also “trending down,” leading to savings.State Rep. Neal P. Goodman, D-Schuylkill, said closing Frackville doesn’t make sense.“The department claims closing Frackville would save $44 million dollars, this would be the lowest savings of the five. If budget savings are the goal, it doesn’t make sense to pick the prison with the smallest savings, nor the newest prison when four others facilities in the commonwealth are more than 100 years old.Frackville also has the lowest annual expenditures, lowest cost-per-inmate, and lowest overtime of the five,” he said.In addition to lost jobs, closing Frackville would have a devastating economic ripple effect.“Annual revenue losses to the Schuylkill County Municipal Authority would be $283,000. Annual revenue losses to the Frackville Area Municipal Authority would be $348,000. The prison is 23 percent of the sewer authority’s total revenue collections. With more than $1.5 million in capital investments in recent years, the burden to ratepayers would be tremendous,” he said.“Wheelabrator, which provides steam power to the prison and helps remediate the county’s waste coal banks, would lose $700,000 a year. This will put the plant at undue risk,” Goodman said.“We all know the commonwealth is facing a $2 billion deficit and something needs to be done to address it during this budget cycle. But closing two state prisons in such a short time frame to achieve $80 million to $160 million in savings is worrisome,” he said.Experts testifyDavid J. Freed, chairman of the Communications Committee for the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association.Freed is concerned about the disruption of mental health treatment and programs.“What will happen with regard to day-to-day drug and alcohol treatment, as well as cognitive behavioral therapy that occurs in our prisons? Will there be any disruption in therapy or medication? Will there be longer waiting lists for these programs?” he said.He also is concerned for the safety of correctional officers.“Not only does prison closures mean a major upheaval for their employment, requiring them to transfer to a potentially unfamiliar prison, but now they will be required to oversee an even bigger population. Being a correctional officer is a dangerous job. The risks, both physical and mental, are enormous,” he said.He also said that crime is increasing due to the opioid addiction epidemic.“We can’t ignore a troubling trend,” Freed said.Jason Bloom, president of the Pennsylvania State Correctional Officers Association, is also concerned for officers.“Squeezing more of our existing inmate population into fewer prisons is a recipe for disaster. I think it is legitimate to remember that the Camp Hill riots of 1989 stemmed from overcrowding in that SCI,” he said.Bloom called for transparency.“A transparent approach is long overdue in our commonwealth when it comes to decisions that affect communities, businesses and thousands of families.“Frankly, this process is worse than what took place in 2013. We believe the department knows which institutions it intends to close. But strangely, they’ve released a list of five prisons, from which two will be selected for closure,” he said.He, too, questioned the state’s population projections.“Our system remains overcapacity at 103.7 percent, according to the DOC’s own population figures. This number would be even higher at 104.7 percent if the commonwealth wasn’t paying counties to house hundreds of additional inmates. Why would we close two prisons if we cannot house the inmates we already have?” he said.Other officials representing Schuylkill County were District Attorney Christine A. Holman; Ryan Township Supervisor Clyde “Champ” Holman; Commissioners Chairman George F. Halcovage Jr. and Commissioner Gary J. Hess; state Rep. Jerry Knowles, R-Berks/Carbon/Schuylkill; state Rep. Mike Tobash, R-Schuylkill/Dauphin; Frank Zukas, president, Schuylkill Economic Development Corporation; and Bill Hanley, senior economic development specialist for Congressman Matt Cartwright, D-17.State Sen Lisa M. Boscola, D-18, chairman of the Democratic Judiciary Committee, also participated.