The vacant warden’s job at Westmoreland County Prison was formally offered Monday to Bryan Kline, the county’s three-term Republican incumbent Clerk of Courts.

Kline, who will turn 40 on Wednesday, of Penn Township was the top choice of a bipartisan majority of the county prison board. Members said his educational background outweighed the professional experience of the facility’s longtime second-in-command, who since November has served as the jail’s interim warden.

“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.”

The prison board includes all three county commissioners, Controller Jeff Balzer, Sheriff James Albert and District Attorney John Peck. It considered two finalists for the job: Kline, who since 2009 has served as the county’s elected Clerk of Courts overseeing all criminal court filings at the courthouse, and George Lowther, 60, of Latrobe, who has worked for nearly three decades at the jail.

Lowther began his career there as a part-time guard and served as deputy warden until he was put in charge at the facility upon the resignation last fall of Warden John Walton.

Kline makes $70,400 annually as Clerk of Courts, according to the county’s human resources director, Alexis Bevan. Walton earned $86,000 a year when he resigned, and Lowther is being paid a salary of $71,000 as interim director.

Kline received five votes in support of his hiring. Balzer and Peck endorsed Lowther.

Kline’s third term runs through the end of this year. The seat will appear on the November ballot.

Officials said Kline’s educational background was the deciding factor in his being offered the warden job.

“Whenever we’re hiring county employees, we always look at experience plus education and it’s a balancing act. And, obviously, we have a candidate that has a (doctorate), so that balances out not having experience at the county jail,” Commissioner Gina Cerilli said.

Kline, who has never worked in the corrections field, holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Lock Haven University and a master’s degree in law and public policy from California University of Pennsylvania. He is enrolled in the online doctorate program at St. Leo University, based in Florida, where he is working on a dissertation on reentry programs for jail inmates designed to reduce recidivism. Kline said he is on track to receive his doctorate in 2022.

“Bryan teaches as an adjunct professor in corrections at Seton Hill University, so he understands the whole process. The hands-on training aspect, he does not have that,” Commissioner Sean Kertes said. “But, when other elected official, row officer and other department heads coming into county government do not have the training, their second-in-command, third-in-command shows them how to do the job. Bryan Kline, when he came into the Clerk of Courts Office, showed everyone how he can do the job, and he will do that here.”

Balzer and Peck both said Lowther’s experience and 28-year history at the jail made him the most-qualified applicant and the most ready to assume the full-time job to run the lockup.

Peck ultimately voted to support Kline’s hire. Balzer voted against offering Kline the job but praised his character and leadership of the Clerk of Courts office.

“While experience is frequently accepted as a substitute for education, I believe it is rare that education is substituted for experience,” Balzer said. “For this reason and this reason alone, I am reluctant to vote in the affirmative to hire Mr. Kline as our next warden.”

As of Monday, there were 496 inmates at the jail, which has struggled in recent months to contain spread of the coronavirus that has infected more than 100 inmates and dozens of guards. Spread of the virus has slowed over the past several weeks and, as of Monday, just one infected inmate remained in the jail, officials said.

Lowther declined to comment on being passed over for the warden job.

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