In 2019, Clarion County deputy sheriffs traveled almost 4,000 miles just to get inmates from the county jail in Shippenville to the courthouse.
But that will soon change.
Statistics from the sheriff’s office indicate deputies made 415 trips to the jail to retrieve prisoners last year because only two inmates could be transported in the back seat of a sheriff’s car at one time.
“We will be able to put four and possibly five inmates in the vehicle at one time,” Sheriff Rex Munsee said. “Ideally that will cut the number of trips down by about half.”
When plea and sentence court is held the deputies may transport two dozen inmates in a single day.
Munsee said the 2014 Ford Transit had been leased for another county department but was used sparingly.
“When the lease ended, Commissioner Ed Heasley called and asked if we could use it. We jumped at the chance,” said Munsee. “All we need to do is put the protective cage in it.”
The transportation of prisoners is a complicated procedure.
“It all begins with an order from the judge. It isn’t like I can just go to the jail and say I want to take John Doe for a ride,” Munsee said. “It is required to have a judge’s order.”
Munsee said he will call the jail ahead of time so the inmate will be ready. The order will be sent from the judge’s office to the jail.
“The standard rule is one deputy for two prisoners,” he said. “We never take a prisoner out of the jail who isn’t shackled by the ankles and belted with hands in front. They can’t run and they can’t kick or grab. You always have to be cautious.”
Munsee said that now that he has a female deputy he will try to send her when female inmates are being transferred.
“There are always two deputies when we are moving a female prisoner,” he said. “Female prisoners are always transported separately.”
As an added measure, the deputies are required to contact the 9-1-1 center with their starting and ending mileage.
The procedure gets even more complicated when an inmate is being transferred to a state prison. The deputies delivered 28 inmates to state prisons last year.
When a prisoner is transported to the state system, a packet is prepared by the county probation department and is sent along with the inmates.
“We have to notify Camp Hill and then they notify Greene which is the intake center,” Munsee said. “Camp Hill determines where the inmate will be placed.”
Munsee said the COVID pandemic has created another problem.
“The inmate has to be tested and getting the results back can take as long as 10 days,” he said. “It is just another hurdle.”
Bringing a prisoner back from another state is even more difficult.
“Last winter we had to bring someone back from Kentucky,” said Munsee. “We have to get an extradition order and that has to be signed by the governors of both states. When we brought one absconder back from Florida it required two deputies to fly to Florida and fly back. That can be a problem if the captain of the plane does not want any weapons on his plane. Then the weapons have to be mailed to a gun dealer in Pennsylvania.”
If the deputies drive back and have to stay overnight, the absconder is placed in a local jail.
“For a fee they will give the person food,” Munsee said. He added the costs of a long-range extradition are often reimbursed by the district attorney.
“We have gone to California twice and we went to Florida, once by plane and one time we drove,” he said. “It always seems like we are going south and west. It seems no one ever runs north.”
The deputies transported 678 prisoners last year. This year, due to COVID, the total will be less and the deputies will be making fewer trips due to the bigger van.