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| State prison inmates could finish sentence at county level |
| By publicopiniononline.com |
| Published: 10/20/2011 |
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Offenders doing time in state prison could get a new start in their communities by finishing their sentences in county jail. The initiative should save taxpayers money and free up space in Pennsylvania's prison system. "Our overall goal is to reduce crime," said Corrections Department Secretary John Wetzel. "I don't have an overall monetary goal. It's more a long-term effort to make a person less likely of committing a crime." The reasoning: A convict with a steady job, a place to live and an appropriate support system of family, friends, treatment programs and church is less likely to return to prison. Franklin County Jail would add up to 30 state inmates to its work-release section. The county should gross about $700,000 a year through an agreement with the state, according to Warden Daniel Keen. The state would pay the county $65 a day per inmate, about what it costs the county to run the jail. The state spends about $70 a day for each inmate in a community corrections center. "If you're going to spend money on a community system, you might as well spend it on the county," Wetzel said. "It's a win-win." The $28 million Franklin County Jail, which opened in 2007 on Opportunity Avenue, has room. The 470-bed jail houses about 329 inmates. The jail receives about $80,000 a month for keeping 14 prisoners for the U.S. Marshal Service and 24 from Fulton County. Read More. |
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