Increase in female prisoners leads to pact between Washington, Greene counties
“Drugs, drugs and more drugs,” is how Washington County Deputy Warden Edward Strawn characterized the reason behind a formal agreement members of the prison board approved Wednesday that will allow Washington and Greene counties to house each other’s inmates.
An increased number of female inmates, including those awaiting trial and those who have been sentenced, is the primary factor behind the $50-per-day fee with a $50,000 annual cap that Strawn brought to the prison board meeting. It was approved by a vote of 6-0, with Judge John DiSalle, who was handling court cases, unable to attend the meeting.
Strawn said Washington County jail has a capacity of approximately 65 female inmates, including the general housing, the medical unit and the unit for weekend and work-release inmates. There are now five Washington County inmates being housed in Greene County, Strawn told the prison board Wednesday.
Figures for the jail as of the end of January list 301 male inmates and 56 female inmates, but since then the inmate population experienced a spike. “We’re just looking for a little help for a short period of time,” Strawn said. One Washington County female prisoner is an inmate at Allegheny County jail.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, in the last 25 years, the number of women and girls caught in the criminal justice system skyrocketed. Many were swept up in the “war on drugs” and subject to increasingly punitive sentencing policies for nonviolent offenders.
“It’s a trend across the nation,” Strawn said before the prison board meeting. “The female population is the fastest-growing population.”
The agreement is reciprocal, so if Greene County needs space for inmates, it can receive the same rate at Washington County jail.
Commissioner Larry Maggi, who is also in charge of the prison board, said the exchange of inmates between the Washington and Greene county jails predates the building of Washington County Correctional Facility in the mid-1990s. Inmates are moved around for their own safety, such as to separate them from a co-conspirator who may be testifying against them in trial.
The cost of housing inmates elsewhere is not now part of Washington County jail’s budget. If the total exceeds $50,000 this year, the prison board can revisit the matter. The costs will become a budget line item so Washington County can track the expenditures.
In a report available online, Greene County Warden Harry D. Gillispie listed its average in-house daily population as 75 inmates. Greene County jail expanded three times since it was built in 1980 and has a full capacity of 196. Gillispie said Wednesday Greene County jail is housing six inmates from Fayette County, with whom Greene also has a $50-per-inmate-per-day contract. In 2014, Greene County housed a total of 163 inmates from Fayette County’s criminal justice system, 146 men and 17 women.
Gillispie said in the past Greene County jail has taken inmates from Butler, Erie, Indiana and Jefferson counties. Indiana and Butler counties eventually built new jails, and Jefferson County expanded its facility.