After executive session, board authorizes recommendations to terminate two correctional officers

The Lackawanna County Prison Board on May 20 authorized the warden’s recommendation to terminate two correctional officers following an executive session on personnel matters.

After returning from executive session, the warden told the board he was recommending termination of two correctional officers "for cause." A motion to authorize those recommendations was moved, seconded and carried.

Operational context: In the warden’s April report the facility’s average daily population was reported at 611 inmates (460 identified as Lackawanna County inmates), with an average of 541 adult males, one juvenile male and 70 adult females. The facility also reported an average of 133 U.S. Marshals detainees and 18 neighboring‑county detainees. Staffing figures discussed included approximately 171 correctional officers on shift, several staff on workers’ compensation or FMLA (including 82 intermittent FMLA cases noted), three full‑time vacancies, and a total cited figure of 182 full‑time officers.

Safety incidents: The warden described four extraordinary occurrences in April that included noncompliance at booking requiring restraint chair placement, use of OC spray to move a female inmate to a camera cell, restraint of a suicidal and combative female inmate, and use of a pepper‑ball launcher and restraint chair to remove an intoxicated aggressive male. The warden said there were no PRIA investigations completed in April.

What the board decided: The board accepted the warden’s report and authorized the termination recommendations; the board did not disclose the officers’ names or further personnel details during the public meeting. The matter arose from personnel proceedings discussed in executive session and was recorded in the minutes as an authorization to recommend termination for cause.