Pocono News Section

Financial Scandal Unravels At Luzerne Co. Jail

Financial Scandal Unravels At Luzerne Co. Jail - Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at 10:16PM EST

Reported by: Joe Holden
Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008 @10:16pm EST

WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY- The chips are beginning to fall in a scandal surrounding the Luzerne County Correctional Facility and the county's prison board. In the words of one county commissioner, someone ignored policy when it came to bidding contracts at the prison. The district attorney confirms an external investigation is underway. An outside agency is probing the actions of the Luzerne County Prison Board, according to DA Jackie Musto Carroll.

One county leader says it was 2005 or maybe 2006. Others set the date at 2004 when county bidding policies were abandoned at the jail. "It's just another black eye because somebody decided not to follow the law and do things on their own," Commissioner Steve Urban said.

"There are measures of accountability being looked at right now," Chairwoman Commissioner Maryanne Petrilla said.

Contracts at the prison were never put out for bid, a violation of state law and county policy. And what's more, according to sources in Luzerne County, some of those contracts were broken down to avoid competitive bidding. It's what's known as "piecemealing."

Right now there's no apparent explanation for the jettisoned policy. Commissioner Urban says he remembers vendors submitting bids to provide produce and non-perishables to the jail. Urban says eventually, the bids stopped. "Now who gave the direction not to follow it? That's what I want to know. I think at the minimum, these people need to be terminated."

Commissioners Urban and Petrilla both met with the Luzerne County DA about the matter. "Complaints were made to me about the prison board and dealings over at the prison and because there's a conflict of interest in that our office deals with the prison, we had to refer it out to another agency," DA Jackie Musto-Carroll said.