Some inmates’ families are anxious their loved ones will among those the Delaware Department of Correction is moving to a prison southwest of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Under a deal with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, the state will send up to 330 inmates out of state.
Rachelle Wilson said that has her and other families of inmates worried. Those with at least 5 years left on their sentences may be transferred out of state.
Wilson’s son Justyn is locked up at Vaughn Correctional Center and she says prison officials won’t tell her if he’s on the list. She claims correctional officers are moving inmates around 2-4 a.m. without letting them or their families know ahead of time.
A spokeswoman for DOC says prior knowledge of a transfer can put officers and inmates at risk.
Wilson says there’s a real financial cost for families if their loved ones are moved, especially if they aren’t fortunate enough to have private transportation like she does.
“Look at the money that it’s going to cost me if they send my son away," she said. "Look at how much it’s going to cost me every week or every two weeks, whenever I can get a visit. Not to mention putting commissary. How much it’s going to cost the back and forth and back and forth, up and down the roads. Gas, time, tolls.”
Gov. John Carney defends the move, saying decreasing the number of correctional officers having to work mandatory overtime improves prison safety.
“So the idea is temporarily move some of those inmates outside so you don’t have to cover as many posts and that will relieve the need for that kind of overtime,” he said.
DOC hasn’t been able to hire enough correctional officers, even with higher starting pay and other bonuses.
But officials also expect the transfers to save the First State money. Director of the Office of Budget and Management Mike Jackson discussed the cost savings with some lawmakers concerned about the plan in September. He said the Delaware may save between $8 and $10 million in costs this year.
Wilson remains concerned about her son getting the services he’s been promised. She said the court ordered Justyn complete certain programs in prison, but eight years later, he is still waiting to get into them.
“So my son who’s waiting for programming, who’s been ordered to do programming and now finally after 8 years may have an opportunity to do that, now you’re going to get up and just move him," she said. "Something’s just wrong with that.”
A report released in July to address conditions at Vaughn that helped sparked the 2017 riot there called for hiring more officers, adding inmate programs and decreasing mandatory overtime.
