Wyoming County Prison Board members, including (from left) Atty. Steve Franko, DA Jeff Mitchell, Warden Ken Repsher, and President Judge Russell Shurtleff, met in the commissioners office in Tunkhannock on Sept. 6.
Photos and Story by Rick Hiduk
Despite public opposition and uncertainty on the part of the Wyoming County Commissioners, the county’s Prison Board agreed to move forward with plans to hire a new probation officer who will be tasked with implementing a number of new initiatives to curb prison overpopulation.
At emergency meeting of the Prison Board on Aug. 24, President Judge Russell Shurtleff suggested that hiring an additional person to oversee a supervised bail program, house arrest and electronic monitoring, and a veterans court was the county’s best option in the face of a growing number of criminal cases and convictions.
Since that meeting, progress has been made on bringing everybody in the county’s judicial system up to speed with the video conferencing system. A unit has been up and operating in Judge Shurtleff’s courtroom, and he welcomed others to take advantage of it.
“It’s phenomenal,” Shurtleff remarked. “We use it all the time.”
At the courthouse, the system is used routinely when a person scheduled for an arraignment or other court-related issue in Wyoming County is already in a state penitentiary. In addition to safety issues and costs associated with transporting an inmate to and from Tunkhannock, a lot of prisoners in the state system are enrolled in rehabilitation programs.
“If we transport them here, they can lose their spot in the program, and they don’t want that either,” said Shurtleff.
A video conferencing system has been set up at the Wyoming County Jail and is expected to be online by the end of the week.
Systems have also been installed at the county’s two District Magistrate offices, but it was unclear if District Judges Carl Smith and David Plummer have been trained to effectively use the equipment.
In the meantime, 35 prisoners remain outsourced to facilities in Lackawanna, Susquehanna and Wayne counties. “It’s better than 41 but not great,” Warden Ken Repsher said of the slight decrease over the past two weeks. Repsher took the time to commend his staff on dealing effectively with extraordinary circumstances.
Commissioner Tom Henry noted that the administrators at the three outsource prisons have also been very cooperative. “Susquehanna County has even gone out of their way to help us with transportation,” he stated.
John Fabiseski, leader of Young People in Recovery, asked what criteria has been applied to deciding who gets sent to another facility and who stays in Wyoming County.
Repsher replied that, normally, it is preferable to outsource an inmate who has already been sentenced as there will be little need for additional transportation. “But when we got slammed, some people had to go out before their hearings,” he added.
Fabiseski’s primary concern is for newly incarcerated individuals dealing with drug addictions. “It disrupts their treatment program,” said Fabeseski.
Repsher agreed that outsourcing can be especially challenging in that instance and that a drug and alcohol assessment of each inmate, as conducted by counselors from A Better Tomorrow (ABT), is sent with the transported prisoner whenever possible.
But, he added, “There’s too many people dealing with addiction right now. It’s overwhelming the resources we have to deal with them.”
The discussion turned to the proper protocol by which a new probation officer should be hired. Solicitor Paul Litwin suggested that a Salary Board meeting be arranged and advertised as soon as possible. Shurtleff said that a meeting was unnecessary because his department had already budgeted for a new position at the beginning of a fiscal year.
“The funds are available,” Shurtleff maintained.
The judge also suggested that there was no need to advertise for the position, as he had solicited applications to fill a probation officer opening recently and still had them on file.
“We have identified people who could be potential candidates (for the new position),” he stated.
The Prison Board meeting was quickly adjourned to be followed by the regular commissioners meeting. Fabiseski stayed long enough to ask Henry how the $500,000 in fees and fines that Shurtleff reported on Aug. 24 will be collected by the county this year will be used. Henry admitted that he did not have an answer to the question.
Fabiseski then asked to go on record as having little faith in the plan of hiring a new probation officer.
“I don’t think that this position is going to help at all,” Fabiseski told the commissioners. “This is another stall tactic. It’s keeping people from getting treatment.”
Lizz DeWolfe of Not One More Wyoming County relayed to the commissioners a story that she’d been told by a woman who had recently been in the Wyoming County Prison system and was refused drug counseling. “The DA approved it, and the judge denied it,” DeWolfe related.
“I know exactly who you are talking about,” Henry told DeWolfe. “I’m unhappy too. I asked about it and was told that it was none of my business.”
Henry and fellow commissioner Judy Mead indicated that they remain committed to finding solutions for both jail overcrowding and the county’s addiction epidemic and invited Fabiseski to meet with them as soon as possible.
The next meeting of the Wyoming County Prison Board will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 20.
To read about the Aug. 24 emergency meeting, click here: http://www.endlessmtnlifestyles.com/?p=5932