Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

County prison accidentally released another inmate

There's no way to say this without sounding like a broken record, but the Delaware County prison – the only privately-run county lockup in the state – mistakenly released another inmate. That makes seven on the year.

There's no way to say this without sounding like a broken record, but the Delaware County prison – the only privately-run county lockup in the state – has mistakenly released another inmate.

That makes seven on the year, including an accused killer who was let go in June. The good news is that there are only 17 days left in 2010. And that everyone is back in custody.

In the latest case, which occurred last week, an employee of the George W. Hill Correctional Facility apparently didn't read the paperwork for alleged burglar Christianus Felten. He was accidentally released, but was back in jail the following day. Two prison employees have been suspended as a result of the snafu.

A similar situation occurred over the summer, when a prison worker thought that the judge's order of "no bail" meant that the inmate could walk out without posting any money. Whoops! Then, in August, an inmate was discharged even though the District Attorney's Office said it had sent a fax to the prison to ensure that he stayed put.

The prison is run for about $43 million a year by New Jersey-based Community Education Centers. Last time I talked to CEC in September, they said they were working to correct the problem. Guess they still are.