LOCAL

Franklin County briefs

Jennifer Fitch
jenniferf@herald-mail.com

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — The Franklin County (Pa.) Board of Commissioners plans to hire a biologist or someone with similar expertise to manage its newly created mosquito-borne and tick-borne diseases program.

The commissioners entered into an agreement Tuesday with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for a grant to be used next year for West Nile virus monitoring, education and mosquito control.

The Penn State Cooperative Extension told the county this year it no longer will administer its program.

The commissioners chose to bring the program in-house and build in a component related to Lyme disease. They plan to hire someone to administer the program early next year.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — Franklin County’s court and administrative functions soon will get a new alert system to help employees be aware of potentially dangerous situations in and around buildings.

The system from Everbridge Inc. will pass along important messages through email, telephone calls and texts.

“It’s a way to reach people in the department, in the building or geographically as well,” said Loretta McClure, the county’s risk manager.

McClure used an example of a person “acting out” in a parking lot that should be avoided by personnel.

The county will pay $75,166 for five years of use from the system. The funding will come from the workers’ compensation trust.

The county has offices divided between several locations, and many of those offices will be moving during a capital project in coming years.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — The Franklin County Jail’s average daily population in November was 514, a number that is approaching its earlier maximum of 528 set in 2017.

The state considers the jail’s rated capacity to be 308 inmates.

Because of overcrowding, the Franklin County Prison Board has been examining ways to send inmates to other counties for incarceration and divert them through participation in other programs. The prison board had its monthly meeting Tuesday.

Chief Probation Officer Daniel S. Hoover said his department released 57 people from supervision in November. He reviewed data about those doing community service, undergoing electronic monitoring and being under supervision as sexual offenders.

“We saved a total of 6,233 (jail) days using alternative programs,” he said.

The Franklin County Day Reporting Center had an average of five participants in November.

The day-reporting center aims to help criminal offenders through life-skills and behavior-modification programs. It conducts drug-and-alcohol testing on participants who can earn early release from jail with active attendance.

— Jennifer Fitch