New Luzerne County Correctional Services division head nominated

Luzerne County Acting Manager Brian Swetz has nominated James Wilbur as the new correctional services division head.

Although the county manager recommends applicants for the eight division head positions under the home rule charter, council confirmation is required for these hirings.

A council vote is scheduled during Tuesday’s meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.

According to background posted with the agenda:

Wilbur has worked as a county correctional services captain since November 2020, supervising 75 lieutenants, sergeants, corporals and corrections officers.

That position was a promotion from his previous position as a lieutenant, which he started in September 2017.

Wilbur’s most recent employment prior to county government was a position a corporate chaplain for No Limit Ministries in Wilkes-Barre, which he started in March 2004. In this role, he developed and administered a chaplaincy program modeled after one in the U.S. Military that provides counseling and care in a corporate environment to all interested workers. It states his client was the Mohegan Sun at Pocono racing division.

In seeking the division head position, Wilbur said he wants to apply his 12 years of experience as a U.S. Army military police officer and more than 21 years of experience in the corrections field, which included both security and treatment roles.

A 1988 graduate of North Salem High School in Oregon, Wilbur received a master’s degree in ministry from the IMI Bible College and Seminary in California and a doctorate in ministry from Vision University, also in California.

The position has been advertised at $83,000 to $87,000, and Swetz is recommending Wilbur receive $87,000.

Swetz said he will be prepared to discuss the hiring process and his recommendation at Tuesday’s meeting.

Prior division head Mark Rockovich had received $87,872 annually.

The position is open because Rockovich retired the end of last year, after nearly 32 years of employment in the county prison system.

Prior county manager Randy Robertson had appointed Jack Robshaw as interim division head the end of September, when Rockovich went on leave.

Swetz continued Robshaw’s role as acting prison system overseer at the start of this year for up to 90 days but told council he soon hoped to recommend someone to permanently fill the position.

The county’s home rule charter limits interim division heads to 90-day appointments per calendar year, which, based on past practice, meant Robshaw was eligible for another 90 days in the temporary role in 2023.

Swetz has said he does not want to leave the division head position open for a lengthy period of time if there are strong applicants. Some council members had encouraged the administration to leave several division head positions open before Robertson arrived so he could be involved in the selection, but critics said that caused a lack of leadership negatively impacting those divisions.

Robshaw was promoted to prison deputy warden in February 2022, filling a position that had been vacated when Sam Hyder resigned as deputy warden in November 2021 after nearly five years as second-in-command.

The county’s prison system remains the county’s top budgetary expense and surpassed the $30 million mark in 2023.

County prison expenditures are budgeted at $31.46 million, which is an increase of $1.58 million compared to last year’s $29.88 million allocation. On the revenue side, the prison system is set to bring in nearly $820,000.

The county’s average daily inmate population was 544 last month, which includes those lodged at the prison on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre and the nearby minimal offenders building on Reichard Street.

Council members decided to hold off on plans to fund an assessment of future prison options. Some members had asked the administration to seek an outside expert because the prison has an inefficient layout and requires significant maintenance. Possibilities included expansion of the current prison, takeover of the former State Correctional Institution at Retreat in Newport Township, new prison construction somewhere else or partnering with other counties to construct a regional prison facility.