HOLLIDAYSBURG — The Blair County Prison is housing just over 300 inmates this month, about 25% fewer than it housed a year ago — before the population declined, then climbed, then went down again.

Reports presented Thursday to the county prison board showed the facility housing 315 inmates and that within the last 30 days, its lowest count was 307 inmates.

May’s available figures are lower than April’s when the prison’s lowest population count came in at 319 inmates and its highest count was reported at 362 inmates.

But they’re also down 25% from May 2024, when monthly reports showed the population at a high of 405 inmates — a level that held through June and July of 2024, when the highest populations were reported at 404 inmates and 400 inmates, respectively.

After reaching those high levels, the prison’s population subsequently dropped in the fall of 2024, when reports showed the facility housing an average of about 325 inmates. At that time, prison board members attributed the drop to a combination of factors, such as transferring more inmates to the state prison, scheduling jury trials outside the regular terms and allocating more time for parole violation hearings.

At Thursday’s meeting, Commissioner Dave Kessling, who chairs the prison board, said he appreciated recent efforts by the county judges to furlough or consider options for inmates with medical issues.

“If that continues, there should be a cost savings there for the taxpayers,” Kessling said.

President Judge Wade A. Kagarise said he signed two related orders in the past two weeks, including one furloughing an inmate who was in a medically induced coma.

While the judge said it’s hard to pinpoint the associated savings, prison board members agreed that the action should be beneficial to the county.

In Pennsylvania, counties cover significant costs for inmate medical care because Medicaid and Medicare coverages are halted upon admission. Blair County also relies PrimeCare Medical to staff the prison with medical personnel for inmate needs and covers some expenses associated with medical care at facilities outside the prison.

Kagarise, who last year spoke of efforts the court was making to operate more efficiently and reduce prison costs, referred again on Thursday to electronic monitoring, a program managed by the county’s parole and probation office.

If the parole and probation office can get back up to full staffing levels, the judge said it might be possible to assign an officer to work at the prison with inmates on arrangements that would move them along toward being released.

That idea drew an endorsement from prison Warden Abbie Tate who told the board: “We look forward to that position.”

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