Jail seeks job applicants

MERCER, Pa. — More part-time corrections officers are needed at the Mercer County Jail because of a spate of illnesses and injuries, Warden Jeff Gill told the Mercer County Prison Board when it met Wednesday.

Gill said seven full-timers are off right now with various problems and two more full- and part-timers are scheduled to go on leave in the near future. One of those is a maintenance worker and one a full-time computer technician.

Applicants for part-time corrections guards or maintenance workers, or a full-time computer technician should contact the personnel office at the Mercer County Courthouse.

Also Wednesday, Commissioners Olivia Lazor and Brian Beader reported there is legislation likely to pass soon in Harrisburg that would require that any convict sentenced to more than two years would serve that time in a state, not county, facility.

Currently, there is no such limit. Lazor said it costs $31,000 per year to maintain one inmate and that the state receives federal help with this cost whereas the county receives none.