Decision expected Jan. 26
Just days after announcing it was seeking qualified providers to offer specialized re-entry services for inmates being released, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections announced it will close two of its State Correctional Institutions by June 30.
In a Jan. 6 press announcement, Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said the two closures would be selected from a list that includes the Pittsburgh, Mercer, Frackville, Retreat and Waymart facilities, and is being made because of a declining prison population and to save money.
“From the day I got in this job, every single lawmaker I’ve talked to has complained about corrections spending,” Wetzel said. “We’ve gone through a process where we’ve systematically… reduced our prison population. The way you save money in corrections is to close prisons.”
The state currently houses about 49,000 inmates in 26 state prisons, down from a height of nearly 52,000 in 27 prisons in 2012. The department closed its Cresson and Greensburg prisons, and opened a new one, Benner, in 2013. The system, Wetzel said, now operates at 87 percent of capacity. The closures would bump that up to 92 percent, with nearly 1,000 inmates being moved to its Camp Hill facility.
The state will also shutter its Graterford facility in Montgomery County when the new Phoenix State Prison, being built alongside, opens. Wetzel said the state would also be reducing its halfway house capacity from about 3,000 to 1,500. He citied statistics showing inmates who spent time in halfway houses, even those considered low-risk, had higher rates of recidivism than those released directly into the community.
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