HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County has started transferring prison inmates to Centre County because of crowded conditions, Commissioner Dave Kessling said Wednesday.

While Blair and neighboring counties regularly exchange a few inmates for security-related reasons, Kessling said that for lack of housing inside the prison, 10 of the county’s inmates are now being housed in Centre County.

“We’re bursting at the seams down there,” he said.

Blair County’s inmate population has been climbing this year.

In January, the prison’s monthly average population was reported to be 335 inmates. That increased to a comparable number of 374 inmates by May 1, as reflected in a

May 16 report presented to the prison board.

An additional prison board report showed the inmate population at 393 on May 16.

When addressing the facility’s current population, Kessling said he thought the facility was housing 392 inmates as of Wednesday, excluding the 10 being housed in Centre County.

Prison personnel, in response to an Altoona Mirror question about county inmate housing, indicated that four of the 10 inmates being housed in Centre County have release dates scheduled for next week.

In November, Blair County signed a contract with Centre County for the temporary housing of inmates at $75 per day. Commissioners made those arrangements in anticipation of security related upgrades with equipment and wiring installation. As that work progressed, inmates were temporarily moved to the Centre County Prison in Bellefonte, then returned to Blair County when the work was finished.

Mirror records show that before Blair County built the prison’s 1983 addition, the county was paying neighboring counties to house about 20 to 30 inmates while the structure built in 1868-69 housed about 100 inmates.

The opening of the 1983 addition allowed the county to bring those inmates back to Blair County and to better accommodate others. As the inmate population grew, the county later pursued a smaller addition and renovations to increase the amount of inmate housing.

One of the common problems that crop up with housing inmates outside of Blair County is the effort that has to be made for court appearances — including transportation time and arrangements made through the sheriff’s office.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.