Luzerne County prison seeks renewal of food service contract

Luzerne County’s prison system is asking county council to approve an inmate food service contract for three more years.

The county had switched to an outside contract with Florida-based Trinity Services Group Inc. in 2023 to reduce expenses.

Trinity provides food at a per-meal cost and oversees the prison kitchen.

With that contract expiring at the end of this year, the administration publicly sought proposals from vendors in August. Trinity submitted the lowest qualifying bid, county Correctional Services Division Head James Wilbur told council during last week’s work session.

A three-year contract is recommended. The expense varies but is approximately $1 million annually, Wilbur said.

The document is posted in council’s Nov. 12 work session agenda at luzernecounty.org.

Council is expected to vote on the contract at its next meeting on Nov. 26.

Voter turnout

Updated unofficial Nov. 5 general election results were posted Friday at luzernecounty.org to add provisional and mail ballots accepted to date by the county election board during public adjudication.

The prior results posted shortly before 3 a.m. on Nov. 6 had reported 152,333 total ballots cast, resulting in a 72.64% turnout.

The county has 209,718 registered voters.

Friday’s update said 154,878 ballots were cast, which means 2,545 ballots have been accepted during adjudication. The revised turnout: 73.85%.

This latest tally shows more votes were cast in this year’s presidential election than in 2020.

County turnout was 69.76% in the 2020 presidential general election, when 154,134 of the county’s 220,963 registered voters cast ballots, archives show.

The other presidential turnouts based on total registrations at those times: 2016, 66.99% (137,549 votes cast); 2012, 65.07% (126,326 votes cast); and 2008, 73.51% (138,076 votes cast).

Challenged ballots

A county election board hearing on approximately 1,100 contested Nov. 5 general election provisional ballots will be held at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in the third-floor adjudication room at the county’s Penn Place Building, 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre.

County Election Director Emily Cook said a list of all impacted voters would be publicly posted on the county’s website by Monday.

Challenges were lodged by attorneys representing the campaigns of U.S. Senate candidates Robert P. Casey Jr. and Dave McCormick.

Paper provisional ballots are cast at polling places on Election Day and must be reviewed last by the board to verify the voters are properly registered and did not also cast a mail ballot.

Challenges included disagreements over missing inner secrecy envelopes and outer envelope signatures from voters and the judges of elections and whether voters had valid registrations making them eligible to vote.

Study commission

The county’s Government Study Commission will hold two meetings this week on Monday and Thursday, with both starting at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Authorized by county primary election voters, the seven-citizen commission wants to keep the county’s home rule government structure but is considering possible alterations that could improve it.

Voters would have to approve recommended changes for them to take effect.

Instructions to attend remotely are posted under council’s online meetings link at luzernecounty.org.

Tax collection

A resolution allowing the county Treasurer’s Office to continue collecting Newport Township county and municipal real estate taxes was discussed at last week’s council work session.

The township first obtained county approval to collect its taxes in 2015 following a vacancy in the elected collector post and has asked the county to renew the agreement annually since then.

The county receives $2.60 per bill, the resolution said.

County Budget/Finance Division Head Mary Roselle told council the agreement generates revenue for the county because it receives approximately $6,000 annually collecting payments on 1,800 bills.

The county also typically receives $1,300 from fees providing certified copies of paperwork, she said.

Public defender funding

The county Public Defender’s Office has received a $103,487 Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency grant.

State Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed the grant to improve local indigent defense, last week’s council work session agenda said.

“The goal of the grant program is to improve the capacity and effectiveness of indigent services in Pennsylvania through efforts to recruit and retain legal and support staff, social workers and investigators,” the agenda said, noting it also will cover necessary training and professional development for qualified staff members.

Council must approve a budget amendment to account for the grant funding.

The agenda said the county Public Defender’s Office has not been fully staffed in over five years.

“Current employees are handling caseloads beyond what is expected. We currently are short four support staff positions and six assistant public defender positions,” it said.