Westmoreland Prison Board elects new leadership
Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert was elected Monday to serve as chairman of the county’s Prison Board.
The panel oversees operations of the county jail in Hempfield. Members include the sheriff, all three county commissioners, Controller Jeffrey Balzer and District Attorney John Peck.
For more than a decade, the county’s sheriff has served as the board’s chairman. Albert took office this month after defeating two-term incumbent Sheriff Jonathan Held in November.
Commissioner Gina Cerilli was elected as the board’s vice chairwoman. Cerilli has been a vocal critic of Warden John Walton. On multiple occasions over the past four years, she unsuccessfully sought to have him removed as head of the county lockup.
Walton has filed a complaint against Cerilli with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claiming comments she made about his job performance during public prison board meetings constituted a hostile workplace.
Meanwhile, the inmate population at the jail continues to inch closer to capacity of 711.
As of Monday, the jail had 654 inmates. Jail population averaged 652 inmates in December, an increase from a year ago, when the facility averaged 621 inmates.
Rich Cholodofsky is a TribLive reporter covering Westmoreland County government, politics and courts. He can be reached at rcholodofsky@triblive.com.
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