Warden reports inmate population, staffing and incidents; public urges expanded library access and other services

Warden Betty presented the prison report at the July 31 Lackawanna County Prison Board meeting, telling board members the average daily population for June was 636 inmates, including 493 county inmates and 143 U.S. Marshal detainees. The warden said the facility averaged 577 adult males, four juvenile males and 55 adult females.

Warden Betty reported staffing as approximately 182 full-time correctional officers with five vacancies, six officers on workers’ compensation, one on administrative leave and 81 on intermittent FMLA. After a brief correction in the meeting transcript, the warden said there were about 170 correctional officers on shift at the time of the report.

The warden also described four "extraordinary occurrences" in June: (1) on June 2 a suicidal inmate was placed in an emergency restraint chair to allow safe movement to a camera cell; (2) on June 5 two inmates fought and staff used OC spray; (3) on June 23 a combative woman committed to the prison was placed in an emergency restraint chair during processing; and (4) on June 24 staff used a pepper-ball launcher after an inmate removed bolts securing his bed and refused to be moved. The warden said one PREA investigation completed in June was deemed unfounded and forwarded to the district attorney’s office.

During public comment, advocates and volunteers raised questions and requests. Denise Brown, who described herself as an advocate for prisoners, asked whether a sewage backup reported during heavy rains had been resolved; the warden said the event involved a burst roof drain line and not sewage, and that maintenance had cleaned and repaired the pipe. Brown also asked about alleged rationing of menstrual supplies; the warden said "we don't ration menstrual pads" and that supplies are provided when needed. The warden acknowledged receiving questions about the prison's health-care provider, Armour Health, and said that monthly invoices have been received and that an initial reconciliation showed a favorable variance of a little over $100,000 to the county after the first quarter.

Volunteers and community members asked about expanding paperback book access and restoring an in-person paperback library that previously ran with volunteers and book carts. Bev De Barrows recounted a volunteer-run paperback library that recorded more than 7,000 transactions in a year before it ended during COVID and urged restoration. The warden said he would look into whether a classroom could be converted and would check whether OneDrive (the prison's online book service) can provide usage statistics or add requested titles; the warden noted that earlier contract terms had suggested the service might not be customizable at the county level.

Other public requests included adding benches to outdoor recreation yards and replacing a chapel-screen TV used by volunteer programming. The warden said the benches would be reviewed for security concerns and that a television replacement could be funded from canteen funds if appropriate.

Board members voted in executive session to accept the warden's personnel action regarding a notice of termination and later voted to accept the warden's full report in open session.