Carbon County officials are putting the brakes on an electronic system that would help corrections officers do their checks on inmates because of an unexpected cost.

On Wednesday, Warden Timothy Fritz told the county prison board that after they approved the Guard1 Plus Timekeeping System, he had the county IT department recheck to make sure all necessary hardware was in place."We thought everything was in order," he said. "But after the IT department re-reviewed everything, they found that the server isn't the one that we need for this to be compatible."Fritz said that the quote for the server and rack needed for the system is $12,934.55 - a cost that the county didn't know about when it agreed to the system. The only cost officials knew about previously was a $1,400 annual service agreement for the system.The $22,896 system will be covered by the Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool.Fritz said the additional funding could come from the inmate commissary fund, but the board wasn't in agreement.The board asked to delay the project until it could see if a grant is available to obtain the additional funding.The Guard1 Plus Timekeeping System allows corrections officers doing their rounds to tap a button with a specialized pipe that logs them in. They then tap a second button on each of the inmates' cell doors with that pipe to record the checks. All information automatically then goes to the computer system.The system would also help monitor those on suicide watch because the corrections officer would tap the cell door and then have a keypad to describe what the inmate is doing in their cell.Right now, all checks are done and handwritten on forms at the prison.Reports would also be able to be printed out as often as administration would like, cutting down on the amount of time the administration would have to look through tapes to make sure records were correct.GED programIn other matters, the county voted to move forward on a GED program at the prison.The program is in conjunction with Carbon Career & Technical Institute and Lehigh Carbon Community College.Fritz said that further discussion with representatives from CCTI showed that LCCC would cover the funding for 10-15 inmates at the facility.He said he sent a memo to the inmates to see if there would be interest in this program and approximately 10 showed interest.The GED program wouldn't begin until the fall.Last month, the board discussed the GED program, and at the time, Fritz reported that it would cost the county approximately $21,000 a year for up to 60 inmates.The county also created four additional positions to its in-house work program to help the medical department serve inmates who need assistance.Frank Shubeck, work-release director, said that two dozen inmates who participate in the program doing things like laundry, maintenance and work in the kitchen, but the need arose for help in the medical department.Four inmates who volunteered for the position will now serve as inmates aides to help those who need assistance with tasks such as dressing, showering and getting around.They will be paid $10 a month."It's a minimal pay type position but they all volunteered to assist those with special needs," Shubeck said. "That is a big help for our medical department."