The Carbon County Prison Board has a new leader.

During the monthly meeting of the board on Wednesday, newly elected Sheriff Anthony Harvilla added another title to his résumé - president of the prison board. He was elected to serve in that capacity during the group's reorganization. He replaces Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard, who chose not to continue as the president.Gerhard will now serve as vice president of the board, Commissioner William O'Gurek will serve as secretary and county solicitor Daniel Miscavige will continue as the solicitor of the prison board.Harvilla thanked the board for having the confidence to lead the group for the next two years.Following reorganization, Deputy Warden Ryan Long updated the board on the recent prison inspection of the facility. The inspection took place in mid-December.Long said there were some policies that needed to be updated, but was not certain if the changes that were made were approved by the state yet. Warden Timothy Fritz, who would have been updated on that matter, was absent on Wednesday."We should be in good shape," Long said, noting that otherwise the prison was in full compliance.The board asked if it needed to take action on the policy changes, but decided to hold off for now to make sure the state approved the policy changes.In other matters, Charles Neff, prison maintenance supervisor, said that the staff is currently investigating what is causing an overriding signal on the prison radio system. A possible cause includes digital radios purchased by inmates to listen to music.Neff said they aren't sure at this time, but one inmate reported hearing the clicking of the prison staff radios on his radio.Neff also updated the board on the well pump supplying water to the facility.Two weeks ago the pump shut down and would not reset.Neff said the amperage going to the pump measured 8.1, about double the normal operational amperage and higher than the usual 7 that the pump operates on due to being 1,800 feet away from the facility.The higher amps strain the motor and could burn it out, causing the facility to lose water.The board said they would contact the county engineer to determine what would be needed to resolve the issue, as well as investigate the possibility of adding a second well.Harvilla also spoke briefly about the plan the county is working on to help cut down on the inmate population at the facility, which stood at 205 on Wednesday, in response to Gov. Tom Wolf's recent announcement that state prison populations declined by 842 last year."The state is leading the way with programs like re-entry and we are now in the process of studying the process of re-entry in the county," he said. "We have a coalition and the executive committee is going to be assumed into the Carbon County Justice Advisory Board. It's going to take some studies but our ultimate goal is to try to reduce not only the population but prevent offenders from returning to the prison."The group has been working on the plan since September and meet monthly to determine if this will work for the county.