Cost of prison soap leaves county all wet

HOLLIDAYSBURG - Providing inmates at the Blair County Prison with bars of soap costs the county $6,000 annually, but Warden Michael M. Johnston is seeking to reduce the cost because the soap is not only being wasted but has become a security risk.

Johnston has come up with a plan to reduce the cost to about $1,300 a year and in the process eliminate the headaches.

Blair County Controller Richard Peo gave the warden kudos Thursday on his plan to slash the cost of soap and other other items, such as mattresses.

Johnston said inmates are using the soap only once and then discarding it.

The county is paying 17 cents for each bar of soap, the size of which appears to be slightly larger than a bar of soap provided in a hotel room.

Not only are inmates tossing out the soap after only one use, he said, but he displayed other ways inmates use the soap.

One inmate used his bar of soap to carve a replica of the Auguste Rodin's "The Thinker."

Another hollowed out a bar of soap and used it to store contraband.

One inmate collected bars of soap from other inmates and, using hot water, melted the small two-ounce bars and then forged his own 10-pound bar of soap.

Johnston and Deputy Warden Marc T. Masucci said the 10-pound bar of soap, which was as hard as a rock, could have been used as a possible weapon, and they were concerned that an inmate could forge something that large and not be discovered.

The inmate is now confined in the prison's Restrictive Housing Unit.

The soap the county provides comes from prison industries and is made by other inmates.

Johnston was given permission Thursday to buy half-ounce bars of soap from a company called ICS of Waco, Texas. The company provides supplies for inmates.

Johnston said he will be able to buy a two-year supply of the smaller bars for about $2,600.

He also has found a way to save money on the purchase of mattresses.

"Given the financial constraints in this county, that's good work. It's a change, but not a change," Peo said, pointing out the inmates are receiving the same items but at a lesser cost.