The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

Corrections spokeswoman Susan McNaughton said the department is seeing a steady increase in inmate population and a subsequent demand for more housing.

ŒŒWe don¹t see an end in sight,¹¹ she said, adding that a surge in nonviolent offenders bound for state incarceration is driving the prison population upward.

The department wants to implement treatment programs catering to those inmates, whose criminal behavior is linked to drug addiction and other underlying problems, McNaughton said.

ŒŒThe idea is to get these inmates into a treatment program with the hope it will reduce criminal behavior, and over time, we could start closing down our older institutions,¹¹ she said.

Until these programs bear results, she said, the need for housing remains critical and older prisons¹ doors will remain open.

The State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon, which opened in 1889 as the Pennsylvania Industrial Reformatory, is the second oldest prison operating in the state behind the State Correctional Institution at Pittsburgh, which was built in 1882.

Two more of Pennsylvania¹s oldest prisons ‹ the State Correctional Institution at Rockview (circa 1915) and the State Correctional Institution at Graterford (circa 1929) ‹ are among sites slated for new construction.

The state budget also is allocating $200 million toward a 2,000-bed facility at Rockview, in Centre County north of State College, and $200 million toward a 2,300-bed facility at Graterford, the state¹s largest maximum-security prison 30 miles west of Philadelphia.

Now that the budget is signed, the the department¹s next step is to wait for the state to release the funds.

ŒŒIt¹s hard to say how long that could take,² McNaughton said.

She said on top of that, it takes years to plan and build a prison.

SCI Huntingdon, which became a state prison for adult offenders in 1960, likely would remain open for some time after the completion of a new prison.

McNaughton said SCI Huntingdon and SCI Smithfield, which are within sight of each other, already share some resources and would extend that relationship to a third facility.

Construction of a facility that eventually will replace it tops any change SCI Huntingdon has experienced in its 118-year history.

Prison spokeswoman Dorina Varner said the facility served as a state industrial reformatory from 1889-1945, when it was converted into a home for delinquents ages 15 to 25.

ŒŒI was told that when it opened, it cost $75 per year to house one inmate. Today, it costs over $26,000 per year per inmate,¹¹ Varner said.

Expansion over the years has included addition of a restricted housing unit, installation of modular units for minimum-security inmates and extension of visitor facilities.

Until 1995, SCI Huntingdon was a maximum-security prison for men and housed capital case inmates. Today, the facility houses maximum-, medium- and minimum-security inmates.

SCI Smithfield spokeswoman Lisa Hollibaugh said the goal is to begin construction of the new housing unit this fall and open it in early 2009. The expansion means additional employment, including corrections officers, a unit manager and counselor, she said.

The Department of Corrections is by far the single largest employer in Huntingdon County.

SCI Huntingdon and SCI Smithfield top the list of largest employers, ahead of major manufacturing firms such as FCI, MeadWestvaco and AGY, according to Huntingdon County Business & Industry.

Mirror Staff Writer Rebecca Berdar is at 946-7458.

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