Luzerne County Prison facing infrastructure concerns

WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — There’s new information regarding a local prison at capacity and Luzerne County leaders looking into the ongoing issues of overcrowding and safety issues at the Luzerne County Prison.

28 22 News I-Team Reporter Andy Mehalshick explains why most agree the prison must be replaced, but at what cost to taxpayers?

“So we’re always looking at options to try to figure out what to do with the prison,” said Luzerne County Council Chairman John Lombardo

There are no easy or inexpensive options.

The Luzerne County Prison was built in 1870 and has been upgraded over the years, but overcrowding and structural issues continue to persist.

The prison is currently near capacity with around 500 inmates housed there.

Lombardo tells the I-Team the numbers are simply unsustainable.

“As of right now we have been trying to utilize our American Recovery Plan funds left over to address some of the pressing issues we have at the prison, elevator issues, other safety hazards and concerns,” Lombardo explained.

Two years ago, county officials toured the former state prison at Retreat in Hunlock Creek as a possible option.

That option proved to be too expensive and is now off the table.

“But we’ve started to lay the groundwork to start moving forward. It’s a long process. I’ve been told it could take about ten years,” said Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo.

That could mean a new prison, but it won’t come cheap. It could cost the county anywhere between $200,000,000 and $400,000,000.

“I can tell you, to build a prison, we would have to finance building a prison, we have to do these things, they’ve been neglected too long,” Crocamo added.

While county leaders may not agree on what should be done moving, they do agree the clock is ticking.

Crocamo says the county may also look into the possibility of working with other area counties to do a joint building project for a new prison.

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