Overtime pay for corrections officers at the Schuylkill County jail continues to fall since the prison board expanded the number of hours part-timers can work.

In February, the total came to $8,173. That’s down from $19,642 in January. In December 2016, the total overtime came to $38,397.“We’re happy with that,” said Warden Eugene Berdanier.In February, the prison board extended the number of hours part-time correctional officers can work from 20 to 28 after Berdanier said people weren’t interested in the jobs because they couldn’t get enough hours.The board initially hesitated, then agreed to boost the time. But the hours have to be kept under 30 to avoid paying for health and other benefits.Berdanier wants to have 10 part-time officers. As of Wednesday, there were three vacancies.The overtime savings are appreciated, especially in light of a climbing prison population that has prompted the board to begin negotiations to extend the contract with at least one of the out-of-county prisons that have been housing overflow inmates from Schuylkill.The contract with George W. Hill Correctional Facility of Thornton, Delaware, will end soon, said prison board and county Commissioners’ Chairman George F. Halcovage Jr.To alleviate overcrowding, the state Department of Corrections in May ordered the county to stop accepting new inmates until it got the population below a daily average of 277.It lifted the restriction in August.The county reduced the population by sending overflow inmates to prisons in Centre, Columbia, Delaware and Berks counties at a cost of $60 to $72 per inmate per day.As of Wednesday morning, the total number of inmates in the prison was 249, with 57 housed elsewhere. In January, the average daily population was 221; in February, it was 239.The county is considering long-range options by buying or leasing a building to house nonviolent inmates close to the end of their sentences.