During the Clarion County Jail Inspection Board meeting on Thursday, warden Jeff Hornberger said the jail is returning to “normal.”
However, not all is back to normal, as the board agreed to not reopen the work-release program.
Work release, a court-ordered program available to qualified inmates under the direction of the county’s adult probation department, continues to be suspended because of the pandemic.
Inmate population
Hornberger said the daily inmate population remains low. The jail is averaging nearly 60 inmates daily, which was “down considerably” from the pre-coronavirus levels.
During the pandemic, the court used alternate sentencing programs to keep the inmate population low in an effort to minimize the spread of COVID-19.
Visitation
The board restored visitation privileges last month.
“We are now back to the pre-COVID policy,” Hornberger said. “I have had no complaints.”
However, the video kiosks installed last month are not yet operational. The kiosks allow inmates to visit with their families remotely.
“There are some issues,” Hornberger said.
Repair work
The warden informed the jail board of cracks in the jail’s parking lot.
Clarion County Commissioner Ted Tharan, a member of the jail board, suggested getting bids on repairing the cracked sections.
Hornberger said the new dishwasher at the jail is not operational, citing construction delays.
“The old one keeps chugging along, barely,” he said.