Lawmakers and advocates on Wednesday urged Philadelphians to approve a new oversight mechanism that they believe will increase transparency and accountability within the city’s jails.
A question on the May 20 primary ballot will ask voters whether City Council should be allowed to move forward with establishing a Prison Community Oversight Board and accompanying municipal office.
“It’s no secret that our prisons are in a crisis, and we’re looking to chart a new path forward,” said Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who helped pushed through legislation to get the issue on the ballot following a yearslong legislative process.
A federal court is monitoring the Philadelphia Department of Prisons, amid concerns over staffing, medical care, out-of-cell time and a myriad of other issues that were exacerbated during the coronavirus pandemic.
Last summer, a judge in the case ordered Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration to devote $25 million toward helping the department meet its obligations under a class-action settlement with inmates.
“While some conditions have improved since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, people still go days without leaving their cells and… report going weeks or even months for medical care,” said Noah Barth, monitoring director at the Pennsylvania Prison Society, which conducts regular jail visits and inmate interviews.
A PDP advisory council – the current oversight structure – “does not meet, is not accountable to the public, and does not have the power and mandate required to bring the transparency that is so desperately needed,” Barth added. The body would be replaced if the ballot question passes.
Details and logistics of the oversight board and office are still being negotiated with Parker’s team, Thomas said.
However, if enacted as proposed, the office’s budget would be set at around $1.3 million and tied to a percentage of PDP’s total allocation, according to Council staff. Lawmakers and the mayor would each appoint four members of the board, with a final member selected by the city controller.
Staff for the oversight agency would be housed under the city’s Office of Public Safety and be empowered to “review, investigate and provide recommendations,” with access to prison staff, inmates, jail facilities, databases and documents, according to legislation passed in Council.
The board, meanwhile, would be able to direct specific probes and is required to hold at least one public meeting every month. At least one member must have experience being incarcerated, the bill states.
“This board is going to be a contested space,” said Robert Saleem Holbrook, executive director of the Abolitionist Law Center, an organization that has pushed for more oversight of the city jails.
“There’s going to be people on this board from different experiences, different qualifications, and it’s going to be up to us community members to make sure that we have members on that board,” he added. “Certainly, there’s going to be some pushback to what we want, and we’re going to push back to what other interests want.”
Supporters and a few lawmakers gathered to build support for the ballot questions shortly before a Council hearing examining PDP’s budget. Legislators are in negotiations with the Parker administration over the municipal government’s spending and tax plan.
Prisons Commissioner Michael Resnick, who has expressed skepticism over the need for a new oversight body, testified that the department has made strides since Parker hired him a year ago.
Efforts to reduce the incarcerated population have also paid off, with the number of inmates dropping from around 4,800 in September to fewer than 3,700 now, PDP representatives told lawmakers.
Resnick said the federal court case stems from “a lack of staffing.” Since April 2024, the PDP has hired 230 correctional officers and reduced the vacancy rate from 47% to 35%, he added.
However, more than 800 job positions across all categories remained unfilled as of December, according to a court monitor’s report filed March 31.
“I’m not happy with the way things are, and progress is too slow for my liking,” Resnick said. “We are going in the right direction. I think the staff can feel it. The numbers are going in the right direction.”
