Cumberland County Prison appears to be the front-runner among places to send at least 50 excess Schuylkill County inmates.

But the estimated cost of $3,300 a day is forcing Schuylkill to make alternatives a priority.The aging prison, on Sanderson Street in Pottsville, has an "ideal" capacity of 250 inmates, but can hold 277. As of this morning, the count was 317. The state has ordered Schuylkill to ease the overcrowding."It appears Cumberland County has made the most attractive offer at this time," Warden Eugene Berdanier said at a county prison board meeting Wednesday.Cumberland would charge about $67 per inmate per day, he said. It costs Schuylkill $44.23 per inmate per day.While its prison has the most space to house Schuylkill's excess, Cumberland would have to hire six or seven additional correctional officers, and that would take more time.County administrator Mark Scarbinsky said because Cumberland would have to make the hires, it would need a one-year commitment from Schuylkill to make sure it could pay the additional cost.Time is of the essence: The state Department of Corrections has given Schuylkill until Nov. 24 to alleviate overcrowding or face sanctions that could eventually result in not being permitted to admit any more inmates."We've had conversations with Cumberland County commissioners to try to move this along," said Prison Board Chairman and county Commissioner George F. Halcovage Jr.He said that a year's commitment would save the costs of transporting inmates back and forth to Schuylkill. Further, Cumberland County uses PrimeCare Medical, the same inmate medical provider as Schuylkill. That would make transferring medical records smoother, he said.Scarbinsky said solicitors from both counties are working to draft an agreement.But Schuylkill is keeping its options open.Berdanier said he's keeping a spreadsheet with information from several prisons about what type of inmates they would accept, how many, for how long and at what cost."I have not received any draft formal agreements from any counties but several have said they are working on those," he said.Berdanier has been in touch with York, Centre, Cumberland, Monroe, Lehigh, Luzerne and Lebanon prisons, as well as state prisons.Shipping inmates to other jails is a "temporary fix," said Sheriff Joseph Groody."As quickly as we move them out, the prison is going to fill back up. Crime is not taking a vacation. It's getting worse."President Judge William Baldwin said the cost of housing inmates elsewhere underscores the need for a long-term solution.Commissioners about 10 years ago ended a plan to build a center near the state prison in West Mahanoy Township because it would have cost too much. The county has also launched a prerelease program that involves electronic monitoring and strict supervision of some qualified inmates in order to relieve overcrowding.Baldwin said the prerelease program is working, but has its problems."If they violate the law while they're on the program, we have to take them back in," he said. "Keeping them out is the problem."District Attorney Christine Holman said homelessness is also a barrier to releasing more inmates on electronic monitoring or probation."The housing issue is something the county needs to be looking at," she said. "There are many sitting over there who don't have a fixed address; they have nowhere to go."