Luzerne County’s prison on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre should be expanded and repaired, the correctional services division head told council Monday.
                                 File photo

Luzerne County’s prison on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre should be expanded and repaired, the correctional services division head told council Monday.

File photo

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<p>Rockovich</p>

Rockovich

Luzerne County Correctional Services Division Head Mark Rockovich described his Monday budget presentation as “a step into reality.”

He candidly outlined a range of staffing and facility challenges and urged county council members to earmark $11.8 million from the county’s $113 million American Rescue Plan funds to expand and repair the aging prison on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre.

County Acting Manager Romilda Crocamo told council everyone knows a new prison is needed, but that long-discussed project is not in the plans at this time due to a lack of funds.

So for now, she said Rockovich must present a “reality check” of what is needed to keep the facility in a safe condition for both inmates and correctional officers.

“I know we’re not getting a new facility. I’ve come to that realization,” Rockovich said at one point during his presentation. He voiced that acceptance after contemplating the “hidden blind spots” throughout the multi-story prison that would be eliminated with a modern design.

On staffing, Rockovich said is has been “extremely difficult” recruiting and retaining correctional officers that last two years, with many prospective applicants backing out after they learn the detailed job requirements.

Correctional officers start at $16.25 per hour and must complete a six-week training course.

In addition to eight correctional officer vacancies, 65 are on family medical leave, he told council.

The prison has had a “staffing state of emergency” during at least 116 shifts this year to date, he said.

“This has created an unprecedented situation where officers have been mandated to work 16-hour shifts as many as three out of five days a week,” Rockovich said.

Officers get tired working three double shifts in a week and need a break so they can cope with on-the-job strains that may include an inmate throwing urine and feces on them or attempting to attack them, he said.

Infrastructure

Rockovich showed a video clip of workers setting up buckets to capture water raining from the ceiling due to a roof leak.

He is requesting $700,000 in American Rescue funds for roof repairs, $7 million for a 100-bed addition to segregate and observe all incoming inmates, $1.4 million for more spaces to accommodate video court appearances and inmate legal consultations and $2.5 million to create a physical/mental health treatment area above the sally port dock.

The common belief the prison was designed to hold approximately 500 inmates is false, Rockovich told council.

The facility was remodeled around 1986 for a capacity of 250 inmates, he said. As the population started rising in the early 1990s, officials switched to bunk beds in most cells and then later converted six day rooms into housing units capable of holding 10 inmates each, he said.

As a result, the facility has been largely running at double capacity since the 1990s, he said.

Activity inside the facility is constant because an average 564 inmates arrive and leave each month — a statistic known as the “jail churn,” he said.

Each new arrival must undergo a body scan and strip search, medical intake and classification assessment. Their personal property must be catalogued and stored, and they are issued clothing and sneakers, he said.

He described the facility as a small town where every aspect of citizen life is controlled and funded by the government, with a list of services that include laundry, health care, counseling, food, utilities, worship, mail delivery and exercise.

Councilwoman Linda McClosky Houck commended Rockovich on his informative presentation and asked for a figure on the average length of stay for inmates.

Rockovich estimated it was approximately nine days but said he will generate a report for council. The facility houses inmates both serving sentences and awaiting adjudication. Inmates sentenced to two years or more are supposed to be lodged in state prison, he said.

Councilwoman LeeAnn McDermott said she supports addressing prison concerns with American Rescue funding if the final federal rules determine the use is allowable. She asked Rockovich for more details on the wing he wants to add.

Rockovich said it would allow a permanent area to house new inmates for a number of reasons beyond a virus pandemic.

Prison staffers would have more time to research the backgrounds of new inmates, including their behavior during past incarceration, to ensure they are placed in the appropriate prison section, he said.

It also would stop the spread of illnesses, he said. All inmates must undergo tuberculosis testing upon arrival, but the results don’t come back for three days, he said.

More observation also is warranted because most inmate suicides occur within the first 10 to 15 days, he said.

And finally, housing new arrivals in one area would allow the prison to provide more medication-assisted detoxification for those withdrawing from opioids or other drugs, he said.

“It’s really terrible to watch an inmate go through that,” he said of opioid withdrawal.

The prison’s current basic detoxification protocol meets legal requirements but is probably not the most humane, he said.

McDermott asked where the addition would be constructed.

Rockovich said an engineering assessment would be necessary, but he believes there is ample room along one side of the building, with a connection created on the first or second floor.

His proposed 2022 budget is $29.88 million, which is an increase of $709,000. This also covers the minimal offenders building on nearby Reichard Street, also in Wilkes-Barre.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.