Can Schuylkill County officials find a long-term solution to overcrowding at the county prison?

Now that the county has gotten a handle on its prison population by transporting prisoners to facilities outside the county, one of the county commissioners wants to look at a more permanent fix.Gary Hess says he would like his two colleagues on the board of commissioners to form a committee to look at the overall trend of incarceration in Schuylkill County, and how they can control the number of inmates. He brought it up at the board’s work session meeting on Wednesday.“We have a week to talk about this, I would like to see it put on the agenda next week for a vote, a bipartisan effort to look at this — it is critical to the county,” he said.As of August, the prison has been under the state-mandated maximum of 277 prisoners. They’ve accomplished that by temporarily moving prisoners to facilities in Delaware and Columbia counties. That has been effective, but it costs the county $60 per inmate per day, not including transportation.Hess said that the current inmate population gives the commissioners some “breathing room” to look at all possible solutions. The committee would ideally include representatives from the courts, the prison, corrections officers and members of the public, he said.“People gotta understand, they don’t want to spend money on this issue, but our job is to make sure public safety remains. Those who commit a crime need to be behind bars,” he said.Hess said part of the problem is the high number of inmates with drug addiction issues that lead to repeated incarceration.“We are not the only county with that problem,” he said.George Halcovage, the chairman of the commissioners’ board, thanked Hess for the idea. He said the courts are already looking into ways to reduce the population, some of those issues, whether it’s adding a drug court, or opening a pre-release center.Halcovage said that while the county is responsible for providing a jail, it is the courts’ responsibility to make incarceration decisions.“We need to make sure we are not telling the courts how to handle the courts. We need to be respectful of that,” he said.He said that his goal would be to discuss it with fellow commissioner Frank Staudenmaier, who was absent from Wednesday’s meeting, then put it on the agenda for theirregular meeting on Wednesday.Hess said the commissioners have worked together to tackle big issues before, namely the radio advisory committee that helped the county modernize its system for dispatching first responders.“This is a long-term issue. It needs to be addressed. We need to look at the way that people are imprisoned,” Hess said.