Carbon County is moving forward on installing an electronic system that would help corrections officers do their checks of inmates.

On Wednesday, the county prison board instructed Warden Timothy Fritz to go ahead with the Guard1 Plus Timekeeping System.The cost for the $22,896 system would be covered by the Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool, of which Carbon is a member.Fritz said that the system is compatible with the server already at the prison and added that he feels it would be beneficial for the prison moving forward because it will help with documentation and if there are legal issues in the future.Commissioner William O’Gurek said that he read all the literature, which answered most of the questions he had about the system.“It seems to be that it would be valuable for us,” he said.Sheriff Anthony Harvilla, president of the prison board, agreed.“If PCoRP is willing to fork out a substantial amount of money, we obviously know they are invested in it. I think we should move forward with it.”The only cost the county may incur long-term is a $1,400 annual service agreement for the system, which the county may or may not opt into.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.Other businessIn other matters, Fritz announced that the state Department of Corrections was in to look at the facility in preparation of doing a staffing analysis that Carbon requested in the hopes of cutting down on overtime and mandated hours.Fritz said once a report has been received, the county can look to see what recommendations the state has to help with staffing.The inmate population count as of Wednesday was 208.“We’re steadily staying around that since November or December,” Fritz said.Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard thanked Fritz and Charles Neff, maintenance supervisor at the prison.On Wednesday, the county received a call from the Carbon County Environmental Education Center requesting help from inmates with shoveling out after the storm.Neff took four inmates over and helped clear the area.