Shown is the exterior of the original portion of the Blair County Prison in 2024. Mirror file photo

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County is starting to interview candidates for the prison warden job, which drew more than 20 applications, according to Commissioner Dave Kessling, who chairs the prison board.

The county advertised the job opening with an annual starting salary of $78,000 and several requirements, including a minimum of seven years of supervisory experience in corrections.

After the job became vacant on June 9 when Warden Abbie Tate resigned, her duties were subsequently assigned to Deputy Warden Shaun Edmundson, who was named acting warden.

When the prison board met Thursday, Kessling indicated that 11 of the 20-plus applicants were identified for interviews, beginning Thursday.

Three of the candidates, he said, are current wardens in other counties. Other candidates include retired prison wardens residing inside and outside Pennsylvania.

“I’m pleased with the caliber of people that applied for the position, so I’m looking forward to doing the interviews,” said Kessling, who previously worked as a county prison warden and for the state Department of Corrections.

State law governing county prisons assigns the task of designating a prison warden to the county prison board composed of the county’s three commissioners, its controller, sheriff, district attorney and president judge. The last time the post was vacant — in 2018 — the prison board named a search committee to comb through about 80 applications.

In other business at the prison board meeting, Kessling reported that the county has ordered a 12-passenger van that will be equipped for transporting inmates.

In early June, an inmate managed to hide inside the DUI Task Force van that was being used that day to transport inmates to and from Central Court in Altoona. After returning from court, inmate David D. Ramos was able to remain inside the van until it was parked outside the prison gates, then temporarily escaped on foot and was caught a few blocks away.

After that escape, arrangements were made for prison staff to use a van the sheriff’s office uses for inmate transportation. At Thursday’s meeting, Edmundson expressed his thanks on behalf of the prison staff to the sheriff’s office for their cooperation.

“We’ve been using that van a lot for our prisoner transport,” the acting warden said.

Kessling and fellow Commissioner Laura Burke said Thursday that they believe the county has sufficient money to buy and equip a van for the prison to use when transporting a group of inmates, an expense that wasn’t included in the county’s 2025 budget. While commissioners said Thursday that they didn’t know the final cost of the vehicle, they expect the price will be offset by vehicle trade-ins.

Finance Director Lindsay Dempsie later confirmed that the county has money in a capital reserve fund that can be used to pay for the inmate transport van. Money in that account, initially allocated to the county by the America Rescue Plan Act and subsequently designated for revenue replacement expenses, is available, Dempsie said.

Commissioners also on Thursday, when convening their weekly meeting, approved two efforts aimed at addressing ongoing maintenance problems within the aged prison.

Kessling, Burke and fellow Commissioner Amy Webster approved a quote from T.D. Fabricating and Welding LLC, at $12,700, for fabrication and installation of five replacement doors, including three doors with food pass-through windows.

The purchase is expected to address problems with specific doors — including the broken door that inmate Brian Dodson bolted through on June 14 during an attempted escape.

Three of the five doors have pass-through windows that will be removed and replaced with windows that can be locked so inmates don’t reach through them and throw things or grab at staff, county leaders said.

Commissioners also agreed to sign an intergovernmental agreement with the state Department of Corrections paving the way for the county to access technical help with ongoing maintenance and operational issues.

Kessling said the state department employs electricians, locksmiths and maintenance personnel who could be helpful to the county prison where the issues exceed what the available staff can handle.

“It’s going to be up to the Department of Corrections as to how much help can be provided and the availability of their personnel,” Kessling said.

Commissioners, who have been looking for a site to build a new county prison, said Thursday that the search is ongoing.

More than three months ago, commissioners voted to back away from initiating seizure of acreage in Allegheny Township that Alto-Reste Park designated for future burial grounds. That location drew protests from neighboring property owners, those with loved ones buried in the cemetery and local lawmakers who pledged their help in trying to identify an alternative site.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-956-7456.