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Board discussion highlights staffing shortfalls, intermittent FMLA and PFM recommendations
Summary
Officials and public commenters discussed prison staffing, intermittent Family and Medical Leave Act use, overtime reductions and PFM’s financial-management findings that the jail may need more officers or changed posts to meet safety needs.
Lackawanna County Prison officials and public commenters discussed staffing levels, the prevalence of intermittent Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) usage among correctional officers and recommendations from the county’s PFM financial-management review.
The warden told the board the prison has 176 correctional officers on shift, four on workers’ compensation and two on administrative leave, and that there are zero continuous FMLA cases and 95 intermittent FMLA cases — which he said represent 95 individuals, not instances. The warden said “yes, that is over half of our officers have intermittent FMLA of 1 sort or another” and described intermittent FMLA as difficult to quantify for operational impact because use depends on the episodic flare-up of medical conditions.
In public comment, a speaker who called out the PFM five-year financial-management plan said the prison staff account for about 20% of county full-time employees and that PFM recommended updating the staffing plan regularly, recruiting part-time correctional officers, and managing population growth to reduce overtime. The commenter said PFM calculated 114 unique posts requiring 187.5 full-time officers, larger than the 182 posts cited in the warden’s written report.
The Warden reported the jail’s average daily population fell from 734 a year earlier to 686 for February 2025. The public commenter noted PFM estimated that reducing the population enough to close one housing wing could save about $1 million annually, but also warned that hiring more staff increases long-term salary and benefits costs, so the county must balance safety and finance.
Board members and the public framed the issue as a balance between safety and cost: filling all posts could reduce overtime but raises legacy personnel costs; reducing posts or closing a wing could save money but requires sustained lower population and approval by commissioners.
Why it matters: Staffing levels and leave patterns affect officer overtime, safety and the county budget. PFM’s recommendations — updating staffing plans, hiring part-time officers, and population management — bear directly on potential near-term savings and long-term personnel costs.
What’s next: The board and commissioners will weigh PFM’s recommendations, staffing data and population trends to decide whether to recruit for additional posts, adjust staffing plans or pursue population-management strategies.
