Adams County PA will soon get into the culinary business – in jail. Starting in June, the county will be providing its own food service at Adams County Prison. The current contractor, Aramark Food Services, chose to cancel its contract with the county effective June 18, as reported by the Hanover Evening Sun.
County Solicitor John Hartzell said the contract allowed for Aramark to choose not to renew with 90 days notice. The contractor planned on raising its rates by 25 cents per meal per prisoner, about a 5 percent increase. The county did not agree with the rate hike, believing they could do the job cheaper, or at least at the same cost as the contractor prior to the hike, Commissioner George Weikert said. Commissioners also said prison officials were not happy with the quality of the food served by Aramark …
Commissioner Glenn Snyder said some of the cost will be curtailed with the county in control because the county can use vegetables grown in the prison’s new garden. Vegetables from the garden were used last year, but there was no reduction in the contractor’s cost. Weikert said that prisoner-maintained garden should yield more this year because it will be bigger, and will have better-quality soil …
Prior to the proposed rate increase, the contract was priced depending on the number of inmates. For example, at 151 to 160 prisoners, the cost was $1.58 per meal. It lowered in steps, such as to $1.37 per meal for 200 to 210 inmates and was $1.20 for 300 to 310 inmates.
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Adams County PA Prison could begin accepting an additional 30 federal prisoners for an estimated potential income of about $700,000, Warden Brian Clark has told the Prison Boar.
Prison capacity, including Community Reentry inmates (formerly called Work Release) is 447. The last day of October, there were 328 inmates in the facility. The main prison has about 120 beds available, some of which could be used for the federal prisoners, Clark said. “If we could hold 30 of their inmates for a year, that would be ($678,000),” Clark told the board. He also said daily operating costs would not change. Food costs are fixed, and there is sufficient staff already on board. One cost that may increase could be health care, but that would be the responsibility of the federal service, the warden said.
Clark said the federal agency would treat Adams County as a satellite of York County Prison, where it currently keeps the prisoners. “The problem right now is York County is overcrowded,” he said, “and they’re (ICE) taking females … halfway across the state to board.” Fink noted many of the prisoners would be awaiting a flight out of the country and Adams County is close to the Harrisburg airport, where most of the flights occur.
Clark said the plan “wouldn’t take place tomorrow.” The federal agency first must inspect the prison, including review of its procedures and policies, before a contract can be signed. Adams County Prison already houses 25-30 prisoners a month from the U.S. Marshall Service. The prisoners are being held on federal charges and awaiting trial in Harrisburg federal courts. “We have had close to 40,” Clark said, adding that “every year this time of year, it kind of slows down for awhile.” The county receives $62 a day per diem for each non-Adams County inmate held in the facility.
More from the Gettysburg Times.
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