SUNBURY - The Northumberland County Prison Board formed a three-person committee Wednesday morning to investigate the feasibility of establishing a holding cell in the prison for county-wide municipal police use.
"Everything is in place for it. It's the future and what the other counties are doing," said Magisterial District Judge John Gembic, of Shamokin.
When an officer makes an arrest at night, said Gembic, he will be able to take a person to this cell until arraignment, allowing police officers to return to active duty instead of waiting hours for a judge.
The way it works now, a police officer must "babysit" an offender until a district judge is available, said Magisterial District Judge Hugh Jones, of Mount Carmel, who joined Gembic in bringing the request to the board.
If a magistrate is unavailable in his own jurisdiction, another magistrate must arraign the suspect, they explained.
The judges said they recognize their own people and understand their own area, and would not imprison someone for smaller offenses. Without a holding cell, a person may be arraigned by an outside judge who is unfamiliar with the person and area, and may not make the same call as the home magistrate.
Gembic said by the time he gets the paperwork for another magistrate's decision, a week might have already gone by, wasting time and money for a suspect who might not deserve to be in jail for such a long time.
If a holding cell is established, the police can take a suspect to the prison and the judges can immediately arraign him the following morning via video conference, the judges said.
In transportation costs alone, a holding cell would save $125 an offense, said Gembic.
President Judge Robert Sacavage said the county has been hesitant to move forward with any plans because the prison didn't have the space.
However, he said, "With good effort by the warden, things have changed."
Warden Roy Johnson said funding and staffing, instead of space, are the issues now.
Sheriff Chad Reiner and acting Controller Tony Phillips made and seconded the motion to form a committee consisting of Sacavage, Johnson and District Attorney Tony Rosini. The motion passed 4-0. Rosini and commissioners Vinny Clausi and Merle Phillips were absent from the meeting.
In November 2009, the mayors and police chiefs of Sunbury and Northumberland asked the county prison board to provide a holding cell for county municipalities, citing similar reasons.
In other business
- A 15-minute executive session was held to discuss prison security.
- The warden reported the removal of the old coal boiler has begun. The outside vendor was disconnected and in-house labor is being used to dismantle it for scrap.
- Female inmates are working on a vegetable garden and the plants are doing well, the warden reported. He said the inmates were enjoying the fresh lettuce.
