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| make 'millions' housing state inmates |
| By post-gazette.com |
| Published: 12/03/2009 |
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Butler County has spent millions of dollars housing prisoners in out-of-county lockups because of overcrowding at its antiquated prison in downtown Butler. No more. Warden Rich Gigliotti now is sitting in a big, new jail, and he's anxious to use his extra beds to generate revenue for the county. "I think we can make millions," he said. County commissioners gave him the go-ahead Nov. 18 to execute an agreement with the state Department of Corrections, which is faced with the warden's old problem: overcrowding. Next month, Butler County will begin filling empty beds with state prison inmates at a per diem of $60. For the first couple of months, the county will take only about 30 state inmates, placing them in unoccupied beds in a six-pod area of the new jail, which opened in July a block from the county government center in downtown Butler. But the warden expects the numbers to grow in 2010. The county has three pods -- groups of cells -- currently unopened in the 512-bed facility. As the county opens additional pods, officials will have to hire more guards. "We're not ready to make that kind of commitment at this point," the warden said of making new hires. But, he said, the trial run over the next couple of months will show whether broadening the programmakes sense. "I think that's where we're headed, but we'll see," he said. Read More. |
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