Bucks County May Sue State Over Inmates
Bucks County, Pennsylvania, is gravely overcrowded, even after a 50-bed extension was added. County Commissioners blame the State and its prisoners for the problems.
The Bucks County commissioners instructed their attorneys Thursday to explore suing the state over the cost of housing so-called state-sentenced inmates they say are clogging the county lockup. Under state law, prisoners sentenced to terms of less than two years must serve their time in county jail. Those sentenced to five or more years must be sent to state prison. But county judges have discretion to allow inmates whose sentences are between two and five years — enough to land them in state prison — to do their time in county prison. About 265 of the 760 inmates at Bucks County Prison on Thursday were in that category, according to Corrections Director Harris Gubernick.
The Commissioners are faced with the possibility of building a new jail at a cost of about $50 million. In the meantime,
Commissioner Diane Marseglia … said she thinks the state should be forced to pay the costs of housing the inmates before county taxpayers foot the bill for a larger prison. ”I think we need to sue the state and get them to start reimbursing us,” she said.
The State, of course, says they have no obligation to pay. For more details see The Morning Call.