Blair County inks deal with Lawrence County to house juvenile inmates
Lawrence County agrees to house minor inmates
Trending
HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Blair County is signing a contract with Lawrence County that opens the option, through July 21, 2027, of housing juvenile inmates at a cost of $500 per day.
Commissioners Amy Webster and Laura Burke, who approved the contract during Thursday's commissioners meeting, said the arrangement currently applies to one juvenile inmate at a time when Blair County has no other housing options available for him. They also said they expect the arrangement to be temporary, based on the juvenile's anticipated transfer to a state facility.
Since Blair County closed its juvenile detention home in Altoona in 2006, it has depended on prisons and detention facilities in other counties to house inmates less than 18 years old. Blair County has also made use of limited space within the county prison for temporary housing of juvenile inmates, but that option is dependent on the amount of adult inmates, as Pennsylvania prisons are required to keep juveniles segregated from adult inmates.
In mid-2023, the Lawrence County Prison Board started discussing the idea of creating a juvenile section within its county prison and subsequently followed through with creating a 12-bed unit. In April, the New Castle News reported that the county prison was housing four juvenile inmates from other counties.
While Blair County currently has a contract with Centre County to house adult inmates at $75 a day, the cost of housing juvenile inmates is generally attributed to the cost of staffing a specific unit and the related care.
When Blair County commissioners signed a contract in 2024 for potentially housing juvenile offenders at the Central Counties Youth Center in Bellefonte, the cost was set at the base rate of $595 a day.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.