Changing Jail Size and Practices in Lancaster County
These comments were written and delivered at the February 2, 2023 Lancaster County Correctional Facility Advisory Committee Listening Session on Feb. 2, 2023 by Greg Newswanger, and are reprinted here with permission.
Greg is a longtime Lancastrian, Lancaster Friends Meeting Member, and activist with POWER Interfaith and Lancaster Bail Fund, working on reforming our local bail practices.
In August 2006, the Lancaster New Era newspaper reported the Lancaster County jail population surpassed 1,300 individuals for the first time. In the same year, the County’s population was 500,922.
According to the Needs Assessment Final Report prepared by CGL Companies LLC, the vertically integrated prison consulting and design firm hired by the County, the average daily prison population in 2021 was 700 individuals, and the Lancaster County population was 553,652.
In those 15 years, the population in our jail has fallen 46% while the County’s population has increased 10.5%.
Getting Jail Size Right in Lancaster County
In 2005 a careful Lancaster County Prison Population Analysis was conducted and determined that by 2020 Lancaster County would need a jail to accommodate 2,500 individuals. Thankfully, we did not embark on building a 2,500-bed facility then. With the current jail population of around 790, that facility would sit 70% empty today.
I give Lancaster County leadership credit for their efforts in 2012. Then-County leadership implemented a Prison Population Reduction Initiative. This took buy-in from many County leaders, including judges, the District Attorney’s office, County Commissioners, the Adult Probation and Parole Services, prison staff, and others. It was a concerted, collaborative effort that implemented policy and programmatic changes that had a significant impact on lowering the jail population.
Measures that were implemented included something as simple as adding court dates to court calendars in order to shorten the wait time to see a judge, thereby shortening jail stays and lowering the overall population. Additionally, department heads would get together on a weekly basis to review the files of all newly committed people with a view towards identifying those who did not need to be in jail and make plans for their release. Several years ago, all such efforts were discontinued and the Prison Reduction Committee was disbanded.
It was a job well done. And there is still more work to do.
Who Does Lancaster’s Jail Serve?
These days about 500 of those being held in our jail are innocent individuals. They are awaiting their day in court. I believe that a concerted, collaborative effort that looks at how Lancaster County uses cash bail, probation and parole violation detainers, and work release programs and how it can strengthen diversionary programs for people with mental illness and/or substance use disorders can reduce the number of individuals needlessly held behind bars in our county.
And let us remember, this is not a numbers game. These are our family members, our neighbors, fellow residents of Lancaster County. These are disproportionately Black and Brown members of our community and primarily individuals who lack financial resources. When individuals spend needless days, weeks, or months locked up in our jail, (on charges of which they may be innocent or, if guilty, may never be sentenced to prison) they potentially lose a job, their housing, a car, custody of children. And they are more likely to end up back in jail. It is a process that impoverishes individuals, families, and our community as a whole.
Now is the time for a concerted, collaborative effort to implement policy and programmatic changes to our current system thereby needing a new jail facility with fewer beds, saving tens of millions of dollars, and in the process keeping our neighbors and family members woven into the fabric of family and community life.
I call on you as County officials and leaders to engage in that work that will benefit all Lancastrians!
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