Warden ponders ‘Good Time’ policy
As the Fayette County prison’s population continues to rise, the warden said Wednesday he is considering a policy that will let inmates earn time off their sentences for good behavior. The “Good Time” policy has to be adopted by the county’s judges and is still being worked out, but Warden Larry Medlock said the policy will allow inmates to shave up to five days a month from their sentences for good behavior.
“It would be a privilege, not a right,” said Medlock.
A consultant brought in through the Prison Overcrowding Task Force suggested the policy. The task force involves counties from across the state, and brings officials together to talk about what works and what doesn’t in solving overcrowding on a local level.
Fayette County Commissioner Vincent A. Vicites, a task force member, said a study of Fayette’s prison system has not yet been released, but contains several recommendations to help the county combat its filled-to-capacity prison.
As of Wednesday, the prison had a population of 254 inmates. Another 15 inmates are being housed in outside counties because the prison cannot hold any more inmates. The 11 inmates at Greene County Prison are costing Fayette $40 a day, and the four being housed in Cambria County’s lockup cost $45 a day, Medlock said.
Medlock and board member Judge John F. Wagner Jr. said the population has been steadily increasing since September 2004.
The warden said 10 or 15 inmates serving Fayette County sentences could benefit from the good-behavior policy. For an offender who has a six-month minimum sentence, for instance, five days off per month could eliminate almost one month.
The policy “is an incentive for (inmates) to behave themselves,” said prison board member District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon.
While Medlock’s tentative policy excluded parole and probation violators from the program, Wagner suggested including those types of offenders, because oftentimes, as a judge, he sends them to prison as a wake-up call. However, he said he would weigh multiple parole or probation violations against good behavior in prison.
Wagner said the policy should go to President Judge Conrad B. Capuzzi for consideration. Capuzzi, Wagner said, would bring it to the judges, who could discuss whether it would be feasible to implement.
In other business, the board voted to hire four part-time corrections officers at the prison: Ronald Friend, David Shaporka, Daniel Eicher and Richard Walkos.