PA Counties Look For Regional Solutions
Government leaders and community representatives from Union, Northumberland, Montour and Columbia counties in PA traveled to the Pike County Correctional Facility Thursday to tour a prison which boasts a 10 percent recidivism rate for county inmates.
According to prison officials, the national rate of recidivism, or inmates who are re-incarcerated after their release, hovers around 70 percent. The prison credits its strong numbers to a series of innovative programs, many of which are led by community volunteers.>
Union County Commissioner Preston Boop was instrumental in organizing the tour. He spoke on the importance of the trip. “What we hope to accomplish is create a cooperative agreement across county lines where we would work with Montour, Snyder, Columbia counties,” he said. “Prison problems don’t stop at county lines. If we can get a three- or five-county effort going, that’s what our motive is …” The commissioner cautioned that building a common facility may not be part of any cooperative agreement the counties could reach in the future. “We don’t necessarily see this as a bricks and mortar issue,” Boop continued. “I’m looking for alternatives to building new prisons and hope we can come up with a plan or plans to solve our prison problems without bricks and mortar, without strapping taxpayers with the cost of building a new prison.”
Other members of the party had other ideas.
Northumberland County Commissioner Frank Sawicki holds a slightly different view of the issue. “It makes sense to build a regional prison,” he said. “It’s better for the taxpayer. It’s cheaper. It’s less costly.” Sawicki noted he is willing to work with representatives of the other counties involved to hammer out an agreement to consolidate prison services.