CLEARFIELD – The Clearfield County Prison Board welcomed the new deputy warden of programs to the staff of Clearfield County Jail during Tuesday’s meeting.
Susan McQuillen has 23 years of experience with the state correctional system, most recently at SCI Houtzdale, prior to coming to CCJ, and she said she is looking forward to bringing her experience to the county.
The board reorganized, keeping President Judge Fredric Ammerman as chairman and Commissioner John Sobel as vice chairman. However, when it came to the position of secretary, Controller Tom Adamson asked if someone else would be willing to take the position.
Adamson said that his office is currently understaffed and the one employee who is in a part-time position but has been doing the work of a full-time employee will be reaching her hour-limit soon.
His office staff puts together the packet every month for the meetings, including the agenda, reports, etc., and also one of the staff members attends the meeting and takes minutes.
Ammerman said that there was no reason for the same people to have the positions every year, except that it had become something of a tradition since Judge John Reilly’s tenure, that the judge is the chairman and the senior commissioner vice chairman and the controller is the secretary, but there was nothing official.
District Attorney Ryan Sayers said that he would check with his staff and if they were willing to take on the extra duties, he would be willing to serve as board secretary.
Ammerman then asked if anyone would be willing to take his seat on the personnel committee, which had consisted of himself, Sobel and Sheriff Mike Churner, adding that he didn’t think it wise to have two commissioners on the committee.
After some discussion, Adamson agreed to give the position a go for a year, especially since the duties of the committee have decreased with new administration at the jail.
The board also discussed an issue with two inmates with ongoing, deteriorating psychological issues.
Both inmates are incarcerated for pre-trial, and the warden and Sayers both noted a need for them to be evaluated and a determination made of their needs.
Because of COVID-19, the state has been back logged with such matters; however, Sayers said he was aware of a program in a neighboring county that might be able to help, and Sobel agreed that the commissioners can look into the matter and report back to the prison board.