CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – Franklin County officials decided this week they will continue paying neighboring counties to house some of its inmates as a persistent shortage of correctional officers limits how much of its own jail the county can operate.
At their weekly meeting, commissioners renewed agreements with Adams and Cumberland counties, approving payments of $80 per inmate per day to Adams County and $100 per inmate per day to Cumberland County. Housing and meals are included in both rates, which will be paid from the county’s General Fund.
The agreements continue a strategy Franklin County adopted last year to ease pressure on an understaffed jail.
In October 2025, Warden Heather Franzoni said the jail had 52 full-time and two part-time correctional officers, forcing employees to work heavy overtime. Moving some inmates elsewhere allowed the county to reduce the number of posts that had to be staffed each shift.
“This is not the first time we have had to temporarily move inmates for operational purposes, and doing so now will help reduce the strain on our staff,” Commissioner John Flannery, chairman of the county Prison Board, said at the time.
The problem has persisted. Flannery said in August that the jail could still use about 20 additional correctional officers.
The jail’s average daily population was about 287 inmates, well below the roughly 500 inmates the facility was built to hold. The problem isn’t a lack of cells. It’s finding enough officers to staff them.
Earlier this year, 32 Franklin County inmates were being housed outside the county, according to previous Local News 1 reporting. The staffing shortage also led the county to close a work-release housing unit and transfer some eligible inmates to Cumberland County.
Commissioners approved Wednesday’s agreements as part of the consent agenda without discussion.
Mental health advocates bring hopeful message
Mental health advocates brought a hopeful message to Wednesday’s meeting as commissioners proclaimed September Suicide Prevention Month: People in crisis are not alone, and sometimes another person simply starting a conversation can save a life.
“Suicide prevention is not one moment, and it is not one person’s job,” Cori Seilhamer, a Franklin County mental health program specialist, told commissioners. She encouraged residents to learn where help is available before they or someone they love needs it.
Seilhamer’s work includes crisis intervention and helping connect people experiencing mental health emergencies with appropriate services. The county also lists her as its certified Crisis Intervention Team coordinator.
Alex Danton, a suicide prevention specialist with the Mental Health Association, said people don’t need special training to make a difference.
“You don’t have to be an expert,” Danton said. “You just have to offer a listening ear.”
Residents can call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. The service is also available to someone worried about a friend or family member and looking for advice about how to help. Franklin County’s mental health department lists 988 as a 24-hour resource.
The county also offers free Question, Persuade, Refer training, known as QPR, which teaches people to recognize warning signs, talk with someone who may be considering suicide and connect that person with help.
One commissioner offered a powerful example of what that help can mean. His mother survived a serious suicide attempt at age 50, received the help she needed and went on to live another 32 years.
Eleven Franklin County residents have died by suicide so far this year. But the county ended its proclamation with the message advocates emphasized throughout the presentation: “Help exists. Healing is possible. All it can take is for one person to start the conversation.”
Keeping those with mental health, addiction problems out of jail
Franklin County is looking for more opportunities to get people with mental health and substance-use problems help before they become more deeply involved in the criminal justice system.
Among the ideas are more housing resources, a mobile crisis team that actually goes where people need help, greater use of peer support and better information for judges making bail decisions.
The recommendations came from a two-day workshop involving 42 representatives of county departments and community organizations. Participants looked for gaps where someone could be connected with treatment or other services instead of continuing deeper into the justice system.
Franklin County Grants Director Melodie Hough told commissioners the approach is called the Sequential Intercept Model. Franklin County has used the framework since 2009 to examine how people with behavioral health needs move through the justice system and where earlier intervention might help.
“The goal is early intervention, which not only improves outcomes, but can reduce costs for the county,” Hough said.
One of the clearest priorities is developing a truly mobile crisis team. Hough said the county wants to make sure the service is mobile “not just in name but in practice.”
Participants also called for better coordination among agencies and more peer support. Another proposal would introduce a risk-assessment tool when someone is booked into jail, giving magisterial district judges more information before making bail decisions.
The workshop produced an updated map of services and a list of priorities. Hough said the broader aim is to improve coordination while reducing repeat arrests and unnecessary trips to emergency rooms.
