MERCER COUNTY 36 employees to be added at new county jail

The original projections were for 120 employees at the facility.
MERCER, Pa. -- The Mercer County Prison Board has agreed to hire 36 new full-time equivalent employees to staff the new jail, which is set to open in late spring.
Full-time equivalents are the number of full-time employees it would take to work a certain number of hours. However, the hours may be filled with a combination of full- and part-time employees, according to County Director of Administrative Services Bill Boyle.
The old jail currently has 50 employees.
The board met in a recessed session last week and made public the list of jobs to be filled after the meeting.
Safety not compromised
County District Attorney James Epstein said original projections were for 120 employees at the jail. However, he said that after extensive study by a transition team and the warden, the number of employees was reduced by cutting administration and administrative support positions. The tight county budget was a concern, but security and safety will not be compromised with the smaller staff numbers, Epstein said.
County commissioners have cited the need to staff the new jail as one reason why they plan to raise county taxes 2 mills next year.
The transition team visited other counties similarly situated to Mercer County before making their recommendations, he said.
The positions
The new jail will employ 66 correctional officers, though it has not been decided how many of these will be full and part time. There will also be one warden and two deputies and seven lieutenants. The staff is rounded out by one administrative secretary, two clerk-typists, one records coordinator, two maintenance workers and two counselors.
The lieutenants will be hired first and will help with training. Epstein said preliminary screening of employees has already been done through Careerlink in Sharon.
Careerlink replaced the former unemployment office and offers job counseling and help in job searches. He said more employees may be needed later, especially female corrections officers.