A bipartisan bill unveiled on Wednesday would mandate that any deals for Rockview prison land be subject to public scrutiny.
The proposed legislation from state Rep. Scott Conklin, D- Rush Township, and Clearfield County Republican Rep. Dallas Kephart comes as lawmakers and community members have raised concerns about the potential for closed-door “sweetheart deals” for the thousands of acres in Centre County that could become available following the Shapiro administration’s decision to shutter the 110-year old correctional institution.
“For someone such as myself with institutional history, I remember as our correctional facilities properties, whether they’re being closed or just being sold, have gone for inside deals for pennies on the dollar, then have been resold for millions and millions of dollars of profit for individuals that were connected,” Conklin said. “That process has to stop.”
The bill, announced during a press conference Wednesday morning at the Capitol, would require that the state attorney general provide oversight for any sale of land associated with Rockview, and that all bids and bidders be publicly disclosed. It also requires that any sale be published in the Pennsylvania Gazette, the commonwealth government’s official weekly publication.
“All of this will go a long way to make sure that the public property is done in such a way that the public profits and not a certain few,” Conklin said. “At the same time this doesn’t stop this property from being left alone, for ag land, for forest, for hunting.”
The Department of Corrections issued its formal decision to close Rockview and the Quehanna Boot Camp in Clearfield County on Sept. 19, citing declining inmate populations, an opportunity “to align department resources with current needs” and long-term costs savings of $100 million. Rockview alone, according to the DOC’s closure report, has upwards of $85 million in deferred maintenance needs.
In addition to worries about the more than 800 staffers and 2,000 inmates from Rockview and Quehanna who will be transferred to other facilities and the attendant economic impacts, local officials have voiced concerns since the closure proposal was revealed in February about what would become of the prison properties.
At 5,700 acres, Rockview is by far the largest property in the Pennsylvania prison system. Its farm and forest lands between the growing State College and Bellefonte areas are
“some of the most valuable property in the county if not the state,” Conklin said, adding that portions of Rockview land that have been divested in the past have “gone for pennies on the dollar for some individuals to make millions of dollars.”
The Shapiro administration hasn’t indicated any plans for the Rockview property, and the closure report says the DOC would not be involved in the sale or transfer of land. That would be the responsibility of the Department of General Services, and would typically only occur by legislation.
Secretary of Corrections Laurel Harry and DOC Deputy Secretary Christopher Oppman said earlier this year that the commonwealth would need to maintain at least some of Rockview’s land and infrastructure because it serves the adjacent Benner Township state prison.
Speaking at Wednesday’s press conference, state Rep. Paul Takac, D-College Township, said any transfer of the land “must result in a long-term benefit to the people and communities of Centre County.”
“Rockview is in the heart of my district,” Takac said. “That land and those assets belong to us, the people of Pennsylvania, held in trust. Any future changes must take that into account. That is why I have been — and will continue to be — fully engaged with all stakeholders and everyone with an interest in the future of Rockview, and I welcome the ideas, concerns and perspectives of all.
“While I am bitterly disappointed in the decision to close SCI Rockview, I am more determined than ever to continue to fight for our community and ensure that this phase of this process is fair, thorough and fully transparent.”
Takac has also said he will insist that the property not become blighted or “a burden borne by local taxpayers.”
The DOC’s closure report estimates annual mothballing costs — expenses for maintaining the property after closure — at $1.6 million.
Centre County commissioners also have raised concerns about the future of the property, saying at their Sept. 23 meeting that the administration needs to provide more transparency about what will become of the facilities.
“You’re not talking about insignificant amounts of not only infrastructure, but also of actually a variety of different types of land,” Commissioner Steve Dershem said. “I would have hoped that we would have known a little bit more about that coming into this decision, and I’m looking very much forward to seeing, hopefully in the near term, what the plan is for those facilities. And I would hope that this board and a few other folks across our community have the opportunity to weigh in on the realities that they represent.
“So hopefully we’ll have some discussion in the near future about the future of the property.”
