Prison reports show 689 average daily population, four restraint incidents in April; public raises medical and sanitary concerns

The Lackawanna County Prison Board received financial and operational reports and heard multiple public comments about conditions, medical care and inmate access to services.

Controller's report: The county controller reported that reconciliations for the prison inmate and canteen accounts for March showed no discrepancies with bank statements. The inmate account balance was reported as $470,378.61 as of April 30, 2025. The canteen checking account balance was reported as $571,138.28 as of April 30, and the Pennsylvania Local Government Investment Trust balance held for the canteen totaled $947,819.85 and was reported to earn about $3,455 per month. The controller said one investment matures on July 11 for approximately $857,000 and another on July 24; the controller corrected an earlier misspoken month during discussion.

Operational and incident report: Deputy Warden Colleen Arzell gave the warden's report. She said the average daily population for April was 689, of which 540 were county inmates; the facility averaged 614 adult males, three juvenile males and 71 adult females. On staffing, Arzell reported "we have 172 full time officers, 3 are on workers comp, 1 on…