"It's  a great place to work," Warden Bryan Kline said. "You're helping people  put their best foot forward upon release. One of the main of  corrections is to rehabilitate offenders."

Kline said the prison  has 29 full-time officer positions available, and officials are looking  to fill them all. Like many places, the Hempfield Township facility is  short-staffed and needs new guards. 

"You get a county pension,  county health care, starts at $17.72 an hour," Kline said. "And after  1,923 hours of employment, you're up to $23.75. Lots of overtime  available."

  “We definitely have an urgent need for corrections officers,” Warden Bryan Kline said during a prison board meeting this week.

Kline said the county has made “significant progress” in reducing the  number of vacancies since he was hired in February 2021, but it remains  an issue. The county has 158 corrections officers to guard 496 inmates,  Kline said.impacts our  district,” Kline said.

  Like teachers, police officers and truck drivers, these are jobs that  are vital to daily life. It isn’t just that the law-abiding residents  and visitors of Westmoreland County need to be kept safe. The inmates at  the jail do, too. Every county facility includes not just those  sentenced to short stays behind bars. It also has the care and  safekeeping of people accused of crimes who are awaiting trial. 

 School board member Bryan Kline said both studies have been in the works for some time as the district continues to grow.

“The demographics in Penn-Trafford are changing with all the building  that is going on. We need to study it and see how it impacts our  district,” Kline said.

 Warden Bryan Kline said the additional costs come with enhanced services for mental health treatment.

About 70% of inmates at the jail have mental health needs, Kline said.

“There will be additional staffing and increased mental health services,” Kline said.

Warden Bryan Kline said 108 inmates who entered the jail in May  underwent detox for drugs and alcohol, including 87 who were addicted to  opiates such as heroin. The detox process requires inmates to be  monitored as they go through withdrawal.

Nine new incarcerated inmates last month had prescriptions for  suboxone and methadone, but, under existing policy, they were not  eligible to receive that medication in the jail.

“This is something that is needed, and it’s been one of my  priorities,” Kline said. “There’s a continuity of care that needs to  exist. I’m of an opinion they need to continue these medications in  jail.”.

Warden Bryan Kline said the county has spent about $5,500 to train  and care for Kira. The dog initially was purchased with funds  administered by the district attorney’s office from money seized as part  of drug investigations.

“We will continue the program and are looking to get another drug dog,” Kline said.

 Since the change, only three inmates have paid at the jail.

“With technology, bail can also be posted online,” Kline said.

 Westmoreland County Prison is attempting to address the issue through preparation and support. On Monday, Warden Bryan Kline announced a program with Peerstar LLC of Altoona to take inmates within three months of release and work with them on life skills they will need when they return to the community. 

 Warden Bryan Kline said Monday at the county prison board meeting, where the agreement was approved. An advantage of this program is that it will continue to help those held in the Hempfield jail “to be reintegrated into the community” after they are free, Kline said.

 Westmoreland County  Prison Warden Bryan Kline said that as of Monday there are 21 current  coronavirus infections at the jail but no additional cases have been  reported since late last week. Kline said the last inmate to test  positive for the virus was on Dec. 17. “It’s getting better,” Kline said  Monday after a meeting of the county’s prison board. 

Warden Bryan Kline will conduct the interviews and agility tests at  9:30 a.m. Jan. 9 at the county prison, off Route 119 in Hempfield.

The board approved the hiring of 13 corrections officers Monday, after candidates were interviewed earlier this month.

Kline said at November’s prison board meeting that the prison needed  to hire 29 corrections officers. The prison had about 160 corrections  officers, prior to Monday’s hiring spurt.

 In-person visitation has been prohibited for the past year. Some guards  have gotten vaccinated and Kline praised correction officers and the medical staff for handling the outbreak on a daily basis. 

Warden Bryan Kline said Monday there were 20 active cases among the  495 inmates lodged in the Hempfield lockup, down about 47%, from 38  cases just one week ago. 

“It’s something that’s uncontrollable, but we’re trying,” Kline said. 

 “We will look at evidence-based practices that are effective and  hopefully we will have the ability to incorporate some of those  programs,” Kline said. “Obviously, there is a price tag to do that on  the front end, but there will be a savings on the back end.” 

 “I am honored that I have the confidence of the prison board, and the  details have not been finalized yet,” said Kline, noting he has not  officially accepted the job and salary negotiations are ongoing. “I am  not making any declarations on my future role as Clerk of Courts at this  time.” 

“We have had another surge of covid in the office with staff,” Kline  said. “We will continue to operate by appointment only and will be  closed daily from 12-1 for cleaning for the foreseeable future.

“I encourage everyone to download the new mobile application in the Apple and Android store for Clerk of Courts services.”

“We’ve had an increase in the office and an increase in the community.  So, it is being done to protect the staff and the citizens that come  into the office,” said Kline.

The clerk of courts was the first office in the county to restrict  access, requiring the public to make an appointment before entering.

Officials are trying to limit traffic in the courthouse to prevent  the spread of COVID-19. It's an experience Kline and his family all  lived through.

"We saw the impact first-hand of how it affects  people," Kline said. "We've all been affected one way or another and  we're just trying to provide these services to the public."

 Clerk of Courts Bryan Kline said the app, which is specific to  Westmoreland County, will enable the public to search criminal court  documents and make court payments for restitution and fines on mobile  devices. 

 Kline, the county’s three-term Republican clerk of courts, said he was  diagnosed late last week with the virus and has experienced significant  symptoms, including a temperature that reached 104 degrees.  

 “My staff operations are limited” and Kline said he is trying to reduce  the amount of foot traffic into the courthouse office. He declined to  say how many employees were affected. 

 Kline said the change could generate nearly $30,000 in savings to county  taxpayers. His office processed nearly $1.6 million in credit card  payments last year, he said. 

 Clerk of Courts Bryan Kline said he opposed the raise for his deputy.

“I felt a raise would have been better served for my union employees because employee retention is an issue,” Kline said.

 “The culture has changed and we are becoming a cashless society, and the  demand for these services has increased. The convenience fee for  services like these are widely accepted by the consumers, more so today  than in the past. I feel that these fees should not be a burden to the  taxpayers and should be incurred by the defendants,” Kline said.  

 The board on Monday unanimously approved an idea proposed by Clerk of  Courts Bryan Kline that will permit county prison officials to deduct  money from personal accounts of inmates to pay toward their fines, court  costs and restitution. Deductions can be taken only from prisoners who  are formally sentenced.     

 “I think restitution to crime victims should be a priority,” Kline told the board.     

 Clerk of Courts Bryan Kline said on Tuesday that his year-old program to  collect cash for the court system brought in an additional $600,000  last year. 

 Collection of restitution payments owed to crime victims and court costs  paid to the government topped more than $6.1 million last year in  Westmoreland County to set a record high, according to Clerk of Courts  Bryan Kline 

 Collections of unpaid costs, fines and restitution have steadily  increased since Kline took office in 2009. He implemented a system in  which defendants who have missed payments are summoned to a hearing.  Kline said he hopes to collect $6 million in 2014.  

 Bryan Kline,  Westmoreland County’s clerk of courts, who served on the  Restitution in Pennsylvania Task Force, said he requires all defendants  to appear at an administrative hearing. If they fail to show up or stick  to a payment plan, they’re found in contempt of court.   .