Schuylkill County Intermediate Punishment Facility Equipment

In 2018, Crabtree Rohrbaugh & Associates updated the Facility Needs Assessment and Feasibility Study they prepared in 2008, and to examine options for an Intermediate Punishment Center to be properly sized for the long term correctional needs of Schuylkill County.

The Prison in the current configuration has an inmate design capacity of 270, with 246 males and 24 females.  With the exception of 2011, the Schuylkill County Prison population has exceeded the design capacity for inmates from 2006 through 2018 (Crabtree date analysis) and continues today.  In order to deal with the overcrowding, Schuylkill County entered into agreements with several other counties to board inmates at other correctional facilities.  This practice continues today, and at a significant cost.

Crabtree’s review had made correctional need projections for the next 5, 10 and 20 years and are as follows:  in 2018 – 320 inmates; 2023 – 325 inmates; 2028 – 330 inmates; and 2038 – 340 inmates.  Also noted is the increase in the female population from 2017 to 2018 at 27.6%.  With these projections, Crabtree recommended that an Intermediate Punishment Center be constructed to with 192 beds with a footprint of approximately 21,000 square feet.  Due to overcrowding at the Schuylkill County Prison and the need to provide social distancing, the Intermediate Punishment Center is to house low level criminals with mental health issues, along with and combinations of drug and alcohol addiction.  The IPC will provide incarceration and mental health, drug and alcohol related counseling with the intention to rehabilitate and release.  The Schuylkill County Prison does not have any space available to conduct this necessary counseling.

A cost analysis was performed comparing various options, such as boarding inmates at other facilities or retrofitting an existing building or construction of a new facility, all similarly sized.  The most effective cost option is to construct a new facility for approximately $5.7 Million for a 21,000 square foot Intermediate Punishment Center, with another $2.3 Million for interior finishing, which include, sleep furnishing, office and visiting furnishes, computers and data lines, smoke and fire detection systems, security systems, medical equipment, restrooms, locker areas, and multipurpose room furnishing.