MERCER COUNTY Official details savings of alternative sentencing

The board promoted a corrections officer to the position of sergeant.
MERCER, Pa. -- The Mercer County Prison Board learned an alternative sentencing program is saving the county money.
Donald Fedorczyk, coordinator of the Intermediate Punishment Program, told the board at its Monday meeting the IPP saved $67,335 in January in the cost of housing prisoners. The total savings amounted to $795,558 in 2005.
The IPP is a sentencing alternative falling between probation and incarceration. It takes low-level, nonviolent offenders who have drug problems and keeps them out of jail with various supervisory programs such as day reporting, house arrest and community services.
The program also provides drug and alcohol addiction treatment and vocational, educational and mental health services. IPP also administers a pretrial supervision program when this is a condition of posting bond.
Fedorczyk and Mark Benedetto, who is community corrections administrator, said they would like to see more offenders qualify for the program in addition to those who are sentenced directly into it under a provision in state law.
They said they will look into increasing the number who can be placed into the program by seeking to have it made a condition of court-ordered probation and parole.
Personnel matters
The prison board also promoted Pedro Garcia, a corrections officer at the county jail, to sergeant. The appointment is effective immediately.
Garcia has been a corrections officer since 1997. He will be paid according to the union contract rate, said District Attorney James Epstein, who is board president.
The board also accepted the retirement of inmate counselor Rev. Ralph Newell, who has held the post almost six years.