An overflow of Schuylkill County inmates are being housed in the prison’s gym as officials fine-tune plans to send some of them to out-of-county prisons to comply with the state’s order to relieve overcrowding.

The news that eight to 10 men are living in the gym as of Oct. 9 surfaced at a county prison board meeting Wednesday.According to Warden Eugene Berdanier, the population in September was 325 inmates. The prison, built in 1851 on Sanderson Street in Pottsville, is designed to hold 277 people.The county is negotiating with Cumberland County and Delaware County prisons to house the overflow.It costs the county $44.23 a day to keep each inmate; farming them out could cost as much as $85 a day per inmate.The state Department of Corrections has ordered the county to alleviate overcrowding.The inmates most likely to be sent out will be those who have already been sentenced, Berdanier said.They are the ones least likely to need to be brought back to Schuylkill for hearings. If they do need to participate in a hearing, that can be done through videoconferencing.The county in July signed an agreement with the state to abide by a timeline to alleviate overcrowding.The deadline is looming for compliance.By Nov. 24, the population must be down to 277, and not exceed that except on a temporary basis of up to 30 days.By Jan. 1, if the state finds the county failed to comply, it will issue a written statement and meet with the board to discuss the matter.By Feb. 1, if there is no solution, the Department of Corrections Secretary John E. Wetzel may “issue an order classifying the prison as ineligible to receive any additional prisoners sentenced to a maximum of six months or more but less than five years until further order of the Department,” the agreement says.In other matters Wednesday, Berdanier said the prison is in need to more staff. The county is looking at hiring retired state correctional officers on a part-time basis. They already have training and experience, Berdanier said.As of Wednesday, five correctional officers were off duty on extended medical leave, and one on restricted duty. There are three staff vacancies.On Sept. 17, commissioners approved a new four-year contract with the 49 prison employees, members of the Teamsters Local Union 429.The contract covers 45 full-time correctional officers, three maintenance workers and one secretary.It allows the use of part-time correctional officers for the first time in about 15 years, a move that county Human Resources Director Martina Chwastiak said would save more than $250,000 a year.Last year, the county paid about $257,000 in overtime for correctional officers.The part-time officers would be paid less and because their work week would be under 30 hours, they would not receive health benefits.Health insurance, at about $18,000 to $20,000 per employee, is one of the county’s biggest expenses, Chwastiak said.