Wednesday, the Department of Corrections announced two Pennsylvania prisons will close by the summer.
But a new prison that's been built for a year will open to replace them.
No employees will be laid off, and inmates will be shuffled around. But the department plans to save millions of dollars this way.
“This is not an earth-shattering move, were keeping the same number of beds,” explained the Secretary of the Department of Corrections, John Wetzel. “But doing it for 23 million dollars cheaper.”
Two prisons housing over 2,000 inmates will shut down, which is expecting to save millions of taxpayer dollars a year.
“Older facilities don't meet our current needs,” Wetzel stated. “We've been saying early on, we're going to replace old capacity with new capacity.”
By June 30, Cresson Prison in Cambria County and Greensburg Prison in Westmoreland County are expected to close.
Most of the inmates will transfer to the Benner facility in Centre County.
“Its more efficient, its more safe, its better operated and meets our needs,” Wetzel continued.
Benner was built over a year ago for 200 million dollars and it's never been used.
“This move isn’t just a financial move, obviously big financial obligations,” Wetzel said. “Its an improvement to facilities. It's has safer and more secure options.”
According to Wetzel, these closes come as inmate populations’ drop.
“This year we've had the largest drop in population in four decades, 454 less inmates from last to this year.. Clearly headed to a good direction,” Concluded Wetzel.
But at Wednesday's press conference, Wetzel made it clear. No staff will be laid off.
All of the employees at those affected prisons will be allowed to transfer and accept other positions throughout the system.
PA State Corrections Officers Association released this statement:
"The state Department of Corrections plans to close prisons in Greensburg, Westmoreland County and Cresson, Cambria County due to the completion of the department’s new prison, SCI Benner near SCI Rockview.
PSCOA President Roy Pinto released this statement today to address this decision:
“We certainly understand that these are difficult economic times, and the PSCOA stands ready to work with the administration to achieve necessary cost savings measures. However, this decision affects public safety, working families and the economic future of two communities. It is only proper to vet this issue publicly.”
“This decision is based on a mammoth assumption that Pennsylvania’s prison population will steadily decline after decades of increases. Despite statements by the department of a declining prison population, the prison population has only experienced an annual decline three times in the last four decades. With similar expectations, the state previously closed a state prison in Pittsburgh only to re-open it. It remains open to this day. If these prisons are closed, the only thing certain is it will hurt thousands of families and devastate the local economies in those areas.”
“If left with no choice, the PSCOA will look at all available options. The commonwealth has a contractual obligation to give the PSCOA a reasonable notice of any planned major operational changes. The PSCOA was only informed of this decision this morning.”
But a new prison that's been built for a year will open to replace them.
No employees will be laid off, and inmates will be shuffled around. But the department plans to save millions of dollars this way.
“This is not an earth-shattering move, were keeping the same number of beds,” explained the Secretary of the Department of Corrections, John Wetzel. “But doing it for 23 million dollars cheaper.”
Two prisons housing over 2,000 inmates will shut down, which is expecting to save millions of taxpayer dollars a year.
“Older facilities don't meet our current needs,” Wetzel stated. “We've been saying early on, we're going to replace old capacity with new capacity.”
By June 30, Cresson Prison in Cambria County and Greensburg Prison in Westmoreland County are expected to close.
Most of the inmates will transfer to the Benner facility in Centre County.
“Its more efficient, its more safe, its better operated and meets our needs,” Wetzel continued.
Benner was built over a year ago for 200 million dollars and it's never been used.
“This move isn’t just a financial move, obviously big financial obligations,” Wetzel said. “Its an improvement to facilities. It's has safer and more secure options.”
According to Wetzel, these closes come as inmate populations’ drop.
“This year we've had the largest drop in population in four decades, 454 less inmates from last to this year.. Clearly headed to a good direction,” Concluded Wetzel.
But at Wednesday's press conference, Wetzel made it clear. No staff will be laid off.
All of the employees at those affected prisons will be allowed to transfer and accept other positions throughout the system.
PA State Corrections Officers Association released this statement:
"The state Department of Corrections plans to close prisons in Greensburg, Westmoreland County and Cresson, Cambria County due to the completion of the department’s new prison, SCI Benner near SCI Rockview.
PSCOA President Roy Pinto released this statement today to address this decision:
“We certainly understand that these are difficult economic times, and the PSCOA stands ready to work with the administration to achieve necessary cost savings measures. However, this decision affects public safety, working families and the economic future of two communities. It is only proper to vet this issue publicly.”
“This decision is based on a mammoth assumption that Pennsylvania’s prison population will steadily decline after decades of increases. Despite statements by the department of a declining prison population, the prison population has only experienced an annual decline three times in the last four decades. With similar expectations, the state previously closed a state prison in Pittsburgh only to re-open it. It remains open to this day. If these prisons are closed, the only thing certain is it will hurt thousands of families and devastate the local economies in those areas.”
“If left with no choice, the PSCOA will look at all available options. The commonwealth has a contractual obligation to give the PSCOA a reasonable notice of any planned major operational changes. The PSCOA was only informed of this decision this morning.”