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WILKES-BARRE — A decision on which two state prisons will close is expected to be announced this morning.
On Jan. 6, the Department of Corrections announced that two state correctional institutions will close as of June 30. The five facilities currently under consideration for closure are: SCI-Frackville, SCI-Mercer, SCI-Pittsburgh, SCI-Retreat and SCI-Waymart.
The administration of Gov. Tom Wolf was to make the decision in concert with the Department of Corrections..
On Monday, the Senate Majority and Democratic Policy Committees and Senate Judiciary Committee held a joint public hearing to review the decision to “potentially close” two state prisons and cut some $180 million from the DOC budget.
Representatives of all five regions where the prisons sit testified on the adverse economic impact closing a facility would have on their local economy.
Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis cautioned at Monday’s hearing that closing prisons could destabilize prison environments elsewhere in Pennsylvania and endanger the lives of corrections officers and inmates.
“When prisons are overcrowded, violent assaults increase,” Salavantis said. “Instead of closing prisons, Pennsylvania should continue to invest in rehabilitative programs that will reduce recidivism, which in turn makes our communities safer. We can save more money by continuing reforms in our criminal justice system rather than just shuttering two prisons.”
Salavantis said the state’s prisons are over-crowded now and closing two would just exasperate the problem.
“We should never risk the safety of corrections officers or residents to balance a budget,” Salavantis said. “These officers would have to travel far to work at another facility, taking them away from their families and their communities. And this is all being done with a 21-day notice and no public hearings. I think it’s terrible.”
Jason Bloom, president of the Pennsylvania state corrections officers’ union, said at the hearing that prisoners would be stacked like “cord wood” if the state closes two of its prisons. He called the decision by the DOC a “sham” that “is poorly thought out and plays with the lives of countless Pennsylvanians.”
Noting the commonwealth faces a serious budget deficit, Wolf had said the DOC believes closing two prisons is possible “without security risk because of the historic reduction in the inmate population and crime is down.”
