Carbon prison wants to hasten inmate transfer

Carbon County officials want to make sure inmates sentenced to state prison terms are getting to those facilities in a timely manner.

On Wednesday, the county prison board discussed a current issue with delays in the paperwork that is causing some state inmates to stay in the county prison longer than they should be.

Warden Timothy Fritz said just under 240 inmates are currently housed at the Carbon County prison and of those about 10 are waiting to be transported to a state facility.

The problem, Sheriff Anthony Harvilla, president of the prison board, said, was these inmates cannot be moved until the paperwork following the sentencing is filed by the clerk of courts office.

Commissioner William O’Gurek asked how long some of these inmates’ paperwork has been backed up.

Harvilla said that some were several months, but most of them were about two months.

“One was as far back as April and another was May,” Fritz said.

“So we’re holding those inmates just waiting on the paperwork?” asked Robert Crampsie, county controller.

Fritz said that was the case.

“They are basically state inmates and we’re holding them and footing the bill for them,” he said, adding that the delay may add extra time at the state facility for those who are in mandatory programs because they must remain at the facility until they complete that program before being released from incarceration.

Harvilla said that discussions between the warden and himself, as well as with the clerk of courts have taken place and they hope that paperwork for inmates sentenced for state prison terms can be completed and filed within two weeks from the time of sentencing.

Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard asked President Judge Roger Nanovic if there was anything the courts could do to expedite the process.

Nanovic said this has been a problem for nearly two years in the court system and now it’s trickling down to other departments.

Gerhard said he believed part of the problem was that there were two open positions in that office that have yet to be filled.