Potter County Jail Facing Major Overcrowding Issue

Things are starting to get a little urgent for Potter County Jail these days. As we hear about more and more arrests, and many of those being serious crimes, Potter County Jail finds itself dealing with some serious overcrowding issues.

The numbers right now are quite staggering, and they're so big, that some of these inmates are having to be housed by less crowded jails in the region.

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As of right now, the Potter County Jail is home to 639 inmates. That number has them only 5% below the maximum amount of inmates by law. So yeah, there's a bit of an overcrowding situation. On top of all that, there are 41 inmates that are being housed elsewhere that SHOULD be in Potter County.

The problem with housing inmates in other jails is there is a daily fee the county has to cover, not to mention travel costs associated with getting the inmate back and forth to court dates and other things.

It's time for the issue to be fixed, and that's exactly what they're getting ready to do. Local officials are now moving forward with establishing a committee that will begin to evaluate what expansion looks like.

Without expansion of the jail, they won't be able to really add anymore inmates to the jail without REALLY pushing the limits of what they can handle. 82% of the inmates at the jail are facing felony charges, so it's not like the overcrowding is due to smaller crimes.

They have stated that previous obligations are just about paid off so they'll have funds available for an expansion without raising taxes, which is something that all taxpayers will enjoy hearing. It'll also make it easier for the project to move forward.