Prison Staff Shortages in Northumberland County, But Under Budget
COAL TOWNSHIP – Northumberland County Commissioners are still coming up with ways to address its shortage of corrections officers at the county prison, but budgeting is not an issue.
Commissioner Chairman Sam Schiccatano said this on WKOK’s On The Mark, “last year’s budget at the prison was half a million dollars under. This year’s budget right now is a half a million dollars under. That’s because we don’t have enough staff. They’re getting overtime, but we’re not paying medical benefits or pensions.
Schiccatano says that’s because of a new way commissioners came up with to address the officer shortage, with staffing weekends being the biggest issue, “And Commissioner (Kymberley) Best came up with the idea of bringing people in that we propose to the union…bringing in ex-guards, ex-sheriff people or police officers or parole people…train them to come in on weekends to help build our staff up.”
In April, the county approved a recruitment program offering incentives to current employees if they get someone to apply for a prison job, along with incentives for working six months without ‘call offs.’ Warden Thomas Reisinger says the prison needs 84 corrections officers to be fully staff, but currently have
You can hear more on this and other topics in Northumberland County on the WKOK.com Podcast Page or wherever you listen to podcasts.
