The Lycoming County commissioners met with GEO Group officials during Thursday’s meeting to garner more information on the agreement GEO has with the state Board of Probation and Parole which allowed GEO to accept state parolees into its reentry program.

The commissioners voted 2-1 Tuesday to disallow state parolees to enter the program and announced Thursday they would stand by that decision as they further review new information presented to them during the meeting.

Commissioner Rick Mirabito said it seems the state is taking advantage of the facility with little benefit to the county, which provides the facility to GEO and pays its utilities.

GEO, a day-reporting center, has offered the county an incentive of $5 per state parolee per day of attendance. It was reported Tuesday that there were three state parolees receiving services, however John Stahl, adult probation office supervisor, told commissioners Thursday the correct number of state parolees already in GEO’s program actually is 22.

At $5 per 22 inmates who check in five days per week, the county would receive about $550 per week or about $28,600 annually.

In comparison, John Hogan, district manager for GEO, told commissioners the state will pay $43 per state parolee per day of attendance for day-reporting, which equates to about $4,730 a week for 22 participants attending for five days, or nearly $246,000 annually.

The county’s current contract with GEO is about $850,000 a year for services including day-reporting, electronic monitoring for inmates and behavioral programs.

“Is it fair to the taxpayers?” Mirabito asked Hogan.

“I believe it is,” Hogan responded, adding that the state parolees would be Lycoming County residents. “We’re able to use our services … we want to then pass on some of that revenue over to the county to further reduce your costs.”

Another advantage of allowing the program to continue through Dec. 31, Hogan said, is the commissioners’ ability to review its progress and decide if they like it, if there are changes that could be made to make it better or if they want to be rid of it completely. Hogan added that GEO based its agreement with the state off agreements used at other GEO locations in other counties. Those counties also receive a $5 benefit, he said.

Adrianne Stahl, Lycoming County Courthouse administrator, addressed the matter as a community member and mother, saying the program helps the community beyond the proposed revenue.

“I don’t think the benefit of these inmates is $5 a day. I don’t look at it like that,” she said. “I look at it as the services being provided to these residents of Lycoming County hopefully will allow them to be productive, positive members of our society and prevent further crime by these individuals … I believe in treatment.”

She added that, as a resident of both the county and the state, division between the two is frustrating.

“For me, what’s at issue here is that the county as an organization has certain responsibilities and the state has certain responsibilities … I’m more concerned about how (GEO gets) paid and whether we get our fair share,” Mirabito responded.

Commissioner Tony Mussare disagreed with Mirabito, saying if GEO already is providing these services, the county should be thankful to receive the extra income. He added that, if he had known the number of state participants in the program was 22 instead of three, he would not have seconded Mirabito’s motion Tuesday which led to the cancellation of the program.

Commissioner Jack McKernan agreed with Hogan’s point that allowing the program to continue until the end of the year would give the commissioners time to see if the benefits are worthwhile or if changes can and should be made.

After lengthy discussion, the commissioners went into a half-hour executive session to address legal matters concerning the program before resuming the meeting. They announced the program will remain canceled while they continue to review information, but they expect to have a final decision by the end of the month.

Commissioners Mirabito, McKernan and Mussare were present. The next meeting will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.