CLEARFIELD – Financial discussions and visitation at the jail were part of the agenda of the Clearfield County Prison Board on Tuesday.
Warden David Kessling provided information regarding a proposal to improve the jail’s financial standing for the board to review.
Kessling said he and his staff reviewed inmate accounts since 2017 and learned that over the years more than $60,700 is owed to the jail for inmate incarceration.
Currently, the jail charges a per-day fee to each inmate, and Kessling said that hasn’t been effective as only a portion of the amount owed is ever collected.
He said he is looking to charge a fee of $35 per inmate when they are booked, and that money would be taken out of any money put on the inmate’s commissary or phone accounts before they can access them.
Looking at the numbers, if the fee had been charged in 2017, $50,715 alone would have been generated and a total of $205,660 could have been received to date.
District Attorney Ryan Sayers asked if such a charge is legal, and whether other counties charge a similar fee.
There was also concern as to inmates having access to commissary and phones and possible protests, and about indigent persons who do not have homes or access to money.
Kessling replied that commissary and phone access are privileges, but the jail staff would take into consideration emergencies, indigent persons and so on.
He added that other counties do this as well and have been successful.
Currently, income at the jail for 2020 through September has been $55,023.41 while expenses have been $2,733,840.26.
Kessling also reported on the possibility of resuming work release and being able to get more inmates to participate.
Several employers in the county have been approached and are interested in having inmates work for them, most notably Paris Uniforms in DuBois.
Kessling said that when the beds for the separate unit being set up for work release inmates are in place, he hopes to be able to resume the program before the end of the year.
Chairman of the board, President Judge Fredric Ammerman, addressed the board about a letter received from the father of a current inmate.
The father stated that he has been unable to visit his daughter because of having been an inmate at the jail in the past, but the incarceration was more than 20 years ago.
Ammerman looked into the matter and discovered that the man had been in jail for a firearm charge in 1993 and also a DUI charge in 1999. He was also charged with a misdemeanor in 2015, but only served probation.
Kessling agreed that the jail does have a policy regarding former inmates visiting, but it is something he reviews on a case-by-case basis. In many incidences he has allowed the visitation, but sometimes he has not.
For this particular situation, he said he cannot recall immediately why he denied the visitation, but he would review his notes and contact the judge so that the father can be informed of the situation.