The Schuylkill County Prison Board approved a motion Wednesday to hire part-time correctional officers to help save the county on overtime expenditures at the prison.
The motion came after an executive session and a cost-benefit analysis presentation by Human Resources Director Martina A. Chwastiak and Warden Eugene Berdanier.
Chwastiak said the approval was to hire two part-time officers for up to 28 hours a week with partial benefits and up to eight additional officers for up to 16 hours with no benefits.
According to Chwastiak, there were 13,640 hours of overtime for correctional officers in 2011. Including the increase in pension costs, Chwastiak said the extra hours cost the county about $472,000.
"The prison board wanted to look at this as a way to save taxpayer dollars," she said. "The warden would also have trained personnel for employee shortages with vacations and additional work."
Chwastiak estimated the county would save about $282,722 by adding six part-time employees. She said the additional part-time workers would only increase the savings for the county as it would eliminate more overtime hours.
While the average prison population continues to hover around 300, the decision to put a housing structure in one of the prison's courtyards will wait until completion of the state Department of Corrections vulnerability analysis, President Judge and prison board Chairman William E. Baldwin said during the meeting. The DOC started its analysis in September.
According Berdanier's report, the average inmate population for October was 293, peaking at 302 on Oct. 18. The average population for September was 289. On Wednesday, there were 282 inmates, including 43 women, at the prison.
The suggested capacity for the prison is 240.