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<p>A few minutes after midnight, Luzerne County County Correctional Division Head J. Allen Nesbitt receives a daily tally of prison inmates.</p><p>It&#8217;s a snapshot of what he&#8217;ll face the next day in the often overcrowded prison system, and lately the nightly emails haven&#8217;t been lulling him to sleep.</p><p>The inmate count has been around 750 this month so far, compared to less than 700 earlier this year, forcing him to seriously consider renting beds for county inmates in outside facilities.</p><p>&#8220;It is a full-blown, everyday crisis situation. There is no down time at this point,&#8221; Nesbitt said.</p><p>Solutions that have been discussed for years &#8212; a better-designed new prison and more use of programs that allow offenders to serve their sentences at home &#8212; are still on the table.</p><p>But lately officials in several county government branches have been dissecting what may be the crux of the problem: The prison system is overloaded with inmates awaiting sentences, as opposed to serving them.</p><p>Between 75 and 80 percent of the county prison system inmates are awaiting court proceedings, Nesbitt said.</p><p>The percentage has dominated discussions at monthly meetings of county officials involved in the criminal justice system, including Nesbitt and representatives of the court, administration and district attorney&#8217;s office, he said.</p><p>&#8220;It was startling to them to hear that number. It should almost be reversed,&#8221; Nesbitt said, referring to an ideal population in which 75 percent or more of the inmates are actually serving a sentence, not waiting for one.</p><p><strong>Speedier justice</strong></p><p>County Court of Common Pleas President Judge Richard Hughes said the statistic was a major factor in the decision to bring back central court, which will corral all magisterial level criminal court proceedings at two locations instead of 16 scattered district judge offices to speed up the processing and resolution of cases.</p><p>&#8220;We really want to look at why the prison is inverted,&#8221; Hughes said in reference to the statistic.</p><p>Hughes sought figures from Nesbitt on the number of inmates lodged because they did not post bail and is in the process of examining each case. While magisterial judges maintain ultimate authority over setting these amounts, central court may result in more bail guidelines and uniformity to make it possible for offenders who aren&#8217;t a high flight risk to remain home awaiting sentencing, he said.</p><p>Nesbitt also gave Hughes information on state-sentenced inmates who are temporarily brought to the county prison to face additional outstanding charges in county court. These inmates &#8220;really chew up some of our bed space&#8221; while they&#8217;re here because they can&#8217;t be lodged in a cell with others, Nesbitt said.</p><p>&#8220;If you&#8217;re going to bring them back, let&#8217;s get right into court and get movement and then move them back to the state,&#8221; Nesbitt said.</p><p>Hughes said he and his judicial colleagues are open to any allowable changes that will accelerate the resolution of cases. All branches are working together to generate and implement initiatives that may bring down the prison population &#8212; not just sitting around talking about ideas, Hughes said.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re all engaged,&#8221; Hughes said. &#8220;I never waver on the fact that the judiciary is a separate branch, but that doesn&#8217;t mean we shouldn&#8217;t work with other branches of county government.&#8221;</p><p>The Harrisburg-based Public Financial Management highlighted the percentage of prison inmates awaiting sentencing in its latest financial recovery plan for the county, which was released last month, saying it is a &#8220;necessary focus&#8221; for the county&#8217;s justice system and elected officials.</p><p>&#8220;The county&#8217;s significant number of pretrial inmates compared to other jurisdictions may suggest that the county&#8217;s average daily population contains some number of inmates who may not require pretrial detention for public safety reasons or to ensure their presence at court proceedings,&#8221; the plan said.</p><p>The lodging of defendants awaiting trial longer than necessary &#8220;affects the costs to staff and operate a safe and secure facility,&#8221; it said, describing the prison system as a &#8220;significant cost driver&#8221; in the county budget.</p><p>At $31.3 million this year, the prison system is the largest single department expense in the county general fund operating budget. That expenditure will increase to $34.2 million in next year&#8217;s proposed $138.5 million budget, which calls for an 8-percent tax hike that the county council members are trying to avoid.</p><p><strong>Renting beds</strong></p><p>Nesbitt must consider renting beds in outside facilities when the county&#8217;s main prison on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre hits a population of 505. The count has been around 529 this month so far, he said.</p><p>A temporary &#8220;dorm&#8221; was set up in the prison gymnasium to temporarily avoid paying for beds elsewhere, but that room soon will be needed for mandatory recreation time once it gets too cold to send inmates outside, he said.</p><p>Only a few beds have been free at the minimal offender&#8217;s building, which has a maximum capacity of 233 and is only for inmates with nonviolent offenses.</p><p>The proposed budget keeps a $547,500 allocation in case lodging is needed at other county prisons at $60 to $120 per inmate each day. Nesbitt said Friday he does not know how long he can avoid that expense.</p><p>&#8220;I told the county manager yesterday, we&#8217;re really close to having to ship people out,&#8221; Nesbitt said.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL032915femaleinmates1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Correctional Services Division Head J. Allen Nesbitt, pictured at a county council meeting in March, has been working with court officials to reduce the high percentage of inmates who are lodged in the overcrowded county prison system awaiting sentencing. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL032915femaleinmates1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Luzerne County Correctional Services Division Head J. Allen Nesbitt, pictured at a county council meeting in March, has been working with court officials to reduce the high percentage of inmates who are lodged in the overcrowded county prison system awaiting sentencing. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_prison2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Prison on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre is bulging with 750 inmates. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_prison2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Luzerne County Prison on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre is bulging with 750 inmates. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Luzerne County Prison overcrowding: Most inmates waiting for sentences, not serving them