Blair County Commissioners approve three CO resignations, working to address prison problems

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (WTAJ)– Blair County Commissioners approved the resignations of three corrections officers from the Blair County Prison at their meeting Tuesday afternoon as staffing concerns continue.

Blair County Commissioner and Chairman of the Prison Board Dave Kessling said that there has been a constant rotation of staff at the county jail.

“We’re always working with a shortage of staff,” Kessling said. “Right now we have staff that are working a lot of overtime.”

Due to staffing shortages, Kessling says that they have sometimes had to do what other prisons with the same when they had these issues and keep inmates locked down for extended periods of time.

“If you’re an individual that is incarcerated and you’re not able to get out as much as you normally would, that’s certainly going to have an impact on the conditions,” Kessling said. “You know they’re going to become irritated.”

Overcrowding has also impacted the conditions inside as well. The inmate WTAJ spoke with on the phone last week said that he and others are living with five people in a cell. The inmate, Joshua Winslow, also said that some inmates are even being housed in the gym area.

“Yesterday the population number was 384, which is still high,” Kessling said. “They’re out of space. Everyone is working in very tight quarters. Those conditions are deteriorating.”

On the financial side, Kessling said that they are spending a lot of money right now to keep the 155-year-old facility afloat. Something that he questions if it’s worth it.

“We have to do that right now, but I don’t know if that’s something that we want to continue to do just because we’re just throwing a lot of money at this,” Kessling said. “Things are breaking down all the time and we just have to continue to fix it which we are not budgeted for and it’s not in the budget.”

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The commissioners already completed a feasibility study and hired a property broker at the beginning of June to look at the possibility of building a new facility. Kessling says that they are still waiting to hear back from the broker and that they hope to enter into an agreement with the landowner before any formal plans are presented.

For now, the possible locations of a new facility are unknown.

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