CENTRE COUNTY — The Centre County Prison Board on Thursday, Oct. 9, received more public comment on a feasibility study that explores options for outdoor recreation at the correctional facility and approved changes that will move the jail’s law library onto inmate tablets.
Most of the metting’s discussion centered on a feasibility study presented last month that outlines ways to provide outdoor recreational access to those incarerated at the Centre County Correctional Facility. Questions also focused on cost estimates in the consultant’s draft.
Commissioner Steve Dershem and board members said any final decision will take time and must account for staffing, security and cost. “We have to look at this eyes wide open,” Dershem said, adding later that with a change of this size, the county wants to “measure many times before we cut”, showing more discussions are to be had before making any final decisions.
Board members said they do not anticipate a vote next month. They invited additional written questions for the warden and the board to address publicly at future meetings and emphasized that conversations should remain in open session.
“Since we’re doing this in a public format, I think we need to keep it in that manner,” Warden Glenn Irwin said.
Irwin spoke on September’s average daily population which was reported at 171, including 123 from Centre County. The jail’s Medication-Assisted Treatment program continues to grow. The MAT program, according to Warden Irwin is, “Basically, if you have an opioid use disorder, you’re given a level of medication that helps stabilize you so you don’t have that deep drop off of your use.”
Iriwn cited methemphatamine as the narcotic most inamtes have in their systems upon commitment to the facility.
“Meth continues to be the highest,” Warden Irwin said. “I think we’ve only had one month where meth wasn’t the highest substance. We all believe, in talking to some law enforcement, that meth is the prevalent drug right now because it’s so cheap, unfortunately.”
Since its launch in fall 2023, 221 individuals have been on the program and released, with 51 re-incarcerated (23%).
“We have a 77% success rate so far with MAT,” Warden Irwin said. “We were pretty impressed with that.”
In other business, the board unanimously approved moving the facility’s legal research access to the LexisNexis law library on inmate tablets.
“All electronic tablets will have access to the LexisNexis Law Library,” Warden Irwin said.
Those in restricted housing will receive access via special tablets for one-hour time slots. The change carries no added cost to the county because the existing annual license will cover tablet access and digital updates will arrive automatically rather than through periodic disk installs that have conflicted with county firewalls.
Board members called the law library transition a practical step. “This one almost seems like a no-brainer,” Commissioner Mark Higgins said.
“This is a no-cost change to the facility,” Warden Irwin said, adding that automatic updates will keep the collection current.
Earlier in the meeting that began with public comment, several speakers from the Prison Society urged the county to consider a different medical provider when the current contract expires with PrimeCare Medical, some citing personal negative experiences with the provider.
“PrimeCare is absolutely terrible,” Jenna Henry of Central PA United said. “They’ve cost the county a lot of money is lawsuits over the years.”
The board did not elaborate on contracts with PrimeCare Medical and Dershem moved the meeting to the scheduled agenda.
The next meeting is set for Nov. 13 at 8 a.m. at the facility.
