The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections has forbidden Schuylkill County from accepting any inmates sentenced to six months or more into the county prison.

The order, issued May 4 by DOC Secretary John E. Wetzel, is because the county failed to meet the state's mandate to reduce the number of inmates.The DOC on July 28, 2015, set a benchmark of 277 inmates to prevent triple-celling. As of April 24, the average population was 282 inmates. Of those, 46 were triple-celled, including 10 women. In March, the population was 291, and in February 294.The restriction will be lifted if and when the prison population drops below a monthly average of 277.The county prison board and commissioners have implemented a number of steps to reduce the population, including housing inmates at prisons outside the county, work release and a day monitoring program.Thirty inmates have been diverted so far, with others being classified for transfer.The county is also creating a drug court expected to begin by the end of this year to keep more people out of jail."Despite the county's diligent efforts to reach the benchmark set by the Department of Corrections, the continued swelling of the numbers of inmates in Schuylkill County has prevented it from attaining that benchmark," said Prison Board and Commissioners' Chairman George F. Halcovage Jr."The Schuylkill County Prison Board and board of commissioners are committed to continuing to work with the state Department of Corrections, the Schuylkill County court, as well as county law enforcement professionals to insure that all inmate housing requirements are met, and those individuals adjudicated by the courts requiring incarceration will be incarcerated," he said in a prepared statement.Halcovage said the commissioners will be reviewing additional inmate housing agreements which, upon approval, will then open additional out-of-county housing opportunities for Schuylkill County inmates."The county currently houses male inmates at George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Delaware County, and female inmates at the State Correctional Institution in Muncy for $60 a day per inmate.The county is finalizing details of a similar arrangement with Centre and Columbia counties.The county has spent years trying to find a solution.Officials years ago planned to buy land to build a pre-release center for nonviolent inmates in order to reduce the jail population, but a brick-and-mortar program proved too costly.