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County jail employee tells council transports strain corrections staff: 'Enough's enough'
Summary
A county jail range instructor told Northampton County Council that corrections officers are covering dozens of hospital and court transports while staffing levels remain depleted, creating long mandated shifts and overtime burdens.
A Northampton County jail employee told the county council during public comment that corrections staff are carrying out a growing number of inmate transports while the jail remains significantly understaffed.
Sean Bobiak, who identified himself as a range instructor and a county jail transport officer from Bethlehem, said the jail is 70 staff positions short and that his department has only about 12 people assigned to transports. “We have 12 people that do transports. 12. That's it,” Bobiak said. He said transports have increased in recent years to about five to six per week and that mandated details can last 16 hours.
Bobiak described the workload as a family burden and said attempts to resolve the division of transport duties between the sheriff's office and corrections have not produced a solution. “We run 24/7. So not only do we have to do our own stuff, but then now we're doing other stuff,” he said.
Council members asked clarifying questions about frequency and staffing. One council member noted that transports commonly require two corrections staff per inmate in custody, and Bobiak confirmed those details.
Why this matters: increased transport duties can create overtime and operational strain across the jail and related county services. The speaker said he had raised the issue repeatedly with jail leadership and human resources and has not seen a resolution.
The comment was given during the public comment period and does not represent a formal county action. No council motion or vote was recorded on the matter during the meeting.
