The cost of housing Schuylkill County inmates outside the county to relieve overcrowding has now topped $1.2 million so far this year.

The expense as of Wednesday morning was $1,213,578, according to Warden Eugene Berdanier.

The county budgeted $1.4 million to cover the expense this year. Last year’s cost was $1.3 million.

As of Wednesday, a total of 68 inmates were housed in other counties for at least $4,420 a day.

Two were in Berks County, 42 in Centre County, 14 in Columbia County, eight in Lackawanna County, and two in Snyder County.

President Judge William E. Baldwin, who serves as chairman of the county Prison Board, on Wednesday said upcoming changes in how the court system processes defendants will move them through faster, cutting down on overcrowding.

Berdanier said several low-risk inmates are now being housed in the county jail’s work-release section, freeing beds in the rest of the jail.

The money to house the inmates in other counties comes out of the tax-fueled general fund, and does not include transportation or overtime costs.

The county began housing overflow inmates out-of-county after the state Department of Corrections in May 2016 ordered it to stop accepting new inmates until the prison population dropped below a 277-inmate cap to avoid triple-celling.

But the cost, about $65-$70 per inmate per day, has been a burden.

The DOC lifted the restriction in August 2016, after the county kept the numbers down.

Also on Wednesday, the board learned that a privacy/security screen will be built in about a week within the outer prison walls to shield police officers from the taunts, spitting and view of inmates as they deliver people to the jail. Officials are especially concerned that undercover agents may be spotted by inmates who would reveal their identities.

Berdanier also reported that a handicapped accessible ramp that goes from the secure front gate to the interior jail sally port is in bad shape.

The ramp is deteriorated in several sections and at the railing posts, he said.

The county Public Works department approved Dallago’s Excavating to inspect it, which it did on Wednesday, along with the jail’s Americans With Disabilities Act compliance officer.

Dallago has recommended the entire ramp be replaced since it would cost about the same amount to repair it.