The number of Schuylkill County prison inmates housed in out-of-county jails increased in September.

Warden David J. Wapinsky said at a public meeting Wednesday that the county sent 47 inmates to prisons in other counties in August to alleviate overcrowding.

As of Wednesday, 50 inmates were in other prisons at a cost of about $70 per inmate per day.

Twenty-two were sent to Center County, six to Columbia County, and 22 to Clinton County.

The prison’s August peak census was 272 inmates, including 54 women. The average low was 247 inmates. Currently there are four correctional officers out on extended leave, and six part-time correctional officer positions open.