Pennsylvania leaders have decided to close two of the commonwealth’s prison facilities, a decision they say will save taxpayers $100 million in future years and reflects a shrinking population at the sites in Centre and Clearfield counties.
The closures will begin right away and are expected to last at least four months, according to a Sept. 19 statement. The news came after months of deliberation by Pennsylvania Department of Corrections officials, who considered “the impact of closure on staff, department operations, the community and the incarcerated population,” department Secretary Laurel Harry said in a statement.
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A report recently released by Harry’s department notes that the number of inmates in the commonwealth’s prisons has dropped from 51,000 in 2012 to about 38,000 today.
The two facilities — Rockview state prison in Centre County and Quehanna Boot Camp in Clearfield County — cost the commonwealth tens of millions of dollars per year to operate and require expensive upgrades in coming years, officials say. Shutting the doors would avert the need for spending on these repairs and ongoing expenses, they say.
Rockview costs about $112 million per year to keep open, while the boot camp draws about $34 million annually, according to the state.
Officials say the corrections staff at the facilities will not lose their jobs and are guaranteed positions at the same pay in other locations, according to statement. Inmates at Rockview and Quehanna will gradually move to other facilities that are suitable for them, state officials say.
However, the decision has garnered significant pushback from staff at the facilities and the communities where they’re located.
Critics of the closures express skepticism that the move will save money, pointing to other vacant, state-owned properties that continue to cost the commonwealth. Though corrections officers can transfer to jobs elsewhere, they say the lengthened commute times will upend life for many of them.
“Not only does that take away from time with their family, but it also increases their cost for gas,” Michael Ohler, president of the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association, said in a statement. “That simply isn’t fair to these hard-working public servants who work one of the most dangerous jobs in the commonwealth.”
What led up to this decision?
Gov. Josh Shapiro announced the potential for prison closures early this year while he was unveiling his annual state budget proposal.
A committee in the corrections department then spent several months gathering feedback on the idea and analyzing financial projections and other data. In September, officials released their findings in a 32-page report that recommended shutting down the facilities and summarized the justifications for the decision.
For one thing, the committee said, the prison system has excess space, and the state could save money by eliminating some of it.
The Rockview state prison was at about 84% occupancy in 2024, while the boot camp’s capacity has ranged between 54% and 75% in recent years, officials have said.
From the left Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro gives his budget address to applause by Joanna McClinton, Speaker of the House, and Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis at the state capital building in Harrisburg on Feb. 4, 2025
Keeping prisons across the corrections system fully staffed has been difficult, and state officials report that in the past two years they’ve had to spend more than $70 million in overtime to cover empty shifts.
State corrections officials say over the coming six years, Rockview prison would need about $86 million of upgrades to repair the roof, boiler, showers, pipes and structure. It would cost another $7 million to install air conditioning, they estimate.
The boot camp also needs upgrades, they say, estimating this work would cost about $3 million in six years, with another $4 million needed to add air conditioning. Moreover, the boot camp facility doesn’t have a perimeter fence, and building one isn’t feasible because of the highway that runs through the property, according to the state.
Officials have noted that a couple inmates have simply walked off the camp over the years.
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What do critics of the closures say?
State agencies acknowledge the prison closures will have an effect on the surrounding communities.
Economic development officials say taking Rockview offline would move more than 650 jobs out of the community, a workforce that indirectly supports another 295 jobs in Centre County.
Local vendors would lose out on an estimated $5.8 million in revenue, and each employee who leaves the area would take about $167,000 per year in local economic activity with them, according to the analysis.
Clearfield County will see the departure of about 234 positions with the boot camp’s closure, and these employees indirectly support nearly 100 other jobs in the area, the state estimates. Each employee who chooses to move away will deprive the community of up to $190,000 in annual economic activity.
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The Department of Corrections report says that shifting these employees to surrounding facilities will likely blunt the worst of these economic harms.
But the union representing prison employees says the Benner Township prison, which sits alongside Rockview, has limited job openings. The next-nearest facilities are nearly 40 miles away.
As a result, many of Rockview’s former corrections officers “would have to spend about two hours a day traveling to and from work,” Ohler said.
Bethany Rodgers is a USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania investigative journalist.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: PA officials announce decision to close two state prisons
