Warden seeks funds to cover medical bills

The jail budget can't cover the extra bills, the warden said.
By VIRGINIA ROSS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The new warden at the Lawrence County jail has asked the county for some extra cash to cover some unexpected medical bills.
Charles Adamo, who was appointed warden earlier this year, told the county commissioners Thursday he needs about $34,000 to pay for medical bills stemming from the attempted suicide of an inmate.
Commissioners, at their caucus, agreed to transfer the money from the county's contingency fund. Adamo said he expects to receive additional bills for the inmate's medical care.
He said he also anticipates receiving a $160,000 medical bill for an inmate involved in an assault at the jail.
"And that's not the end of the trail" for the inmate's expenses, Adamo added. He said if that bill is paid on time, it could be reduced to $80,000.
"But we're still waiting to get the bill for his care," Adamo said.
Adamo said there is no money left in this year's jail budget to cover the unexpected bills. The county, before the transfer, had about $400,000 in its contingency account.
Replacing warden
Earlier this year, the prison board moved Mark Schaas from the deputy warden's spot to acting warden after former jail warden Mark Fellows resigned.
Schaas had applied for the warden's position but dropped out of the running to accept a job elsewhere. Adamo was then named warden, inheriting woes left by Fellows, who quit in the midst of several controversial episodes including inmate assaults, fires at the jail and an increase in the number of inmates going to the hospital, which contributed to higher medical bills.
Also, a suicide and an inmate death resulting from an apparent drug overdose were reported. The work-release program also was discontinued after it was discovered inmates were smuggling drugs into the jail, officials said.
"I'm confident ... that with some of the policies you've developed and implemented at the jail that we'll see less of these types of problems and the expenses associated with them," Commissioner Ed Fosnaught told Adamo.
County prison board members have said problems at the jail have subsided since Fellows, who was named warden in 2003, resigned.