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A dozen new corrections officers have been hired in Luzerne County’s prison system, and interviews are underway for a new second-in-command, officials say.
Correctional Services Division Head Mark Rockovich said the batch of hirings leaves only two vacant corrections officer positions.
The vacant positions must be filled to meet minimum staffing requirements. Job openings are common in the system, which includes the prison and a nearby minimal offender’s building in Wilkes-Barre, due to resignations, retirements and periodic terminations.
Prison officials have struggled with overcrowding, an increase in gang-related and drug-addicted inmates and recent controversies, including the July deaths of an inmate and corrections officer inside a prison elevator shaft and extortion charges against two employees in connection with work-release inmates.
“We’re trying to get up to full complement,” Rockovich said.
New hires must undergo four weeks of in-house training. Rockovich said some newer corrections officers use the position as a stepping stone to better-paying jobs.
“We train them, and then a lot of times they might get picked up by the state or federal prison system,” he said.
The new corrections officers, all hired at starting salaries of $31,745, according to the county manager’s newly released personnel report for October: Derek Horn, James Bolka, John Brawley, Joseph Campbell, Daniel Evancho, Julia Fonte, Joshua King, Christopher Leonard, Paul Reed, Scott Roberts, John Scalzo and Scott Stuchkus.
The county budget calls for 54 corrections officers at the minimal offender’s building and 221 at the prison, Rockovich said.
The prison deputy warden position is vacant because James Larson is retiring Dec. 8, Rockovich said.
The deputy warden serves as the correction head’s primary operating and/or administrative officer and acts as overseer when Rockovich is absent, the job posting says.
A 38-year prison employee, Larson had served as interim correctional services division head before Rockovich’s appointment to that position in July.
The county advertised the deputy warden position at $68,000 annually, which is the same salary paid to Larson. Applications were accepted from the end of September through mid-October, according to the job posting.
The position requires at least five years of experience in a correctional setting, including three or more years in an administrative role.
Seven applied for the deputy warden position, and the county human resources department concluded four applicants meet minimum qualifications, county officials said. The three, top-ranked, redacted resumes were supplied to Rockovich from human resources, and he said interviews are in progress.
Another top position — prison treatment coordinator — was recently filled by Christina Oprishko at $48,000. Prior coordinator Grace Franks had resigned in July.