News

May 9, 2008

Lawmakers told of capacity crunch at Retreat

Facility’s superintendent reveals modular housing unit, says another prison needed.

By Bill O'Boyle boboyle@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer
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HUNLOCK TWP. – Capacity at the State Correctional Institution at Retreat is scheduled to increase in two weeks – and three state legislators visiting on Thursday talked about the need for an additional state prison in the area.

James McGrady, superintendent at the Level 3, or medium-security state prison, said there are 863 prisoners at the facility, 7 percent over its capacity of 806. The state average of over-capacity is 10 percent to 12 percent, he said.

A 286-bed modular housing unit will open at Retreat within the next two weeks, increasing capacity to more than 1,100. McGrady said the additional space will not alleviate the overcrowding in state prisons.

State Reps. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, and Todd Eachus, D-Butler Township, came to the facility on Thursday to meet McGrady and get an update on the prison.

Officials have talked about building an additional state prison and a new county prison in Newport Township.

“There is talk of building a new prison just over the mountain behind here,” Yudichak said. “And there is talk of also building a county correctional facility adjacent to the state prison.”

If a new prison is built, Retreat would remain open at its current capacity. The new facility would help alleviate the overcrowding in the state prison system.

Pashinski asked McGrady about the size of a new prison, but McGrady declined to comment. Pashinski said the capacity of the proposed prison has not been determined, but the facility could house between 1,000 and 1,500 inmates.

McGrady said there is no room to expand the Retreat property, noting the mountain behind the facility and the flood-prone land below it.

Building adjacent facilities would allow the state and county to save on the installation of roads, utilities, sewers and other infrastructure required to access and build on the shared site, Yudichak said.

McGrady told the legislators that 700 of the 863 inmates are enrolled in educational classes and that 93.4 percent of those enrolled receive their general equivalency diploma. The general operating budget at Retreat is about $6 million per year, McGrady said, and the cost of incarceration per inmate is $32,356 each year. Retreat employs 378 people.

McGrady said 80 to 85 percent of the inmates are serving time for drug-related crimes. McGrady said the state recently began compiling recidivism statistics.

McGrady served as deputy superintendent at State Correctional Institution at Dallas for six years and has worked 26 years in the state prison system.

Retreat opened as a state prison in 1988 on the site of Retreat State Hospital, which closed in 1981. It houses adult male offenders. The SCI-Dallas is also classified as Level 3.

“There is talk of building a new prison just over the mountain behind here. And there is talk of also building a county correctional facility adjacent to the state prison.”

State Rep. John Yudichak

D-Nanticoke

Bill O’Boyle, a Times Leader staff writer, can be reached at 829-7218.

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