By Wayne Laepple
SUNBURY — A 25-year veteran of the state prison system will become the new warden of the Northumberland County Prison next month, following his appointment by the Northumberland County Prison Board on Tuesday.
Roy Johnson, of New Cumberland, will take the reins at the county prison on July 13. He worked for the state Department of Corrections for 25 years, from which he retired as a Deputy Superintendent II in 2003. He served mostly recently at Coal Township and Graterford correctional facilities.
Ralph “Rick” Reish, the current warden, will work with Johnson during a short transition period, according to Chuck Erdman, Northumberland County controller and member of the prison board. He will then take vacation and other accrued time until his October retirement date.
During their meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the Northumberland County Salary Board set Johnson’s salary at $57,551.
His rate was not without controversy. At the beginning of the meeting, President Judge Robert Sacavage, who had been appointed by the prison board to act on its behalf with respect to Johnson’s salary, asked whether he would be permitted to vote.
The commissioners argued among themselves and with Sacavage about the legality of his appointment, even though the prison board’s solicitor had approved it. Hugh Jones, the commissioners’ solicitor, was unsure whether the appointment was permissible.
Vinny Clausi said he had contacted several counties, none of which said it was legal, while Frank Sawicki asked if the vote was postponed, what would the next step be. He noted that since the prison board had appointed Sacavage unanimously, there shouldn’t be an issue.
The commissioners finally agreed to go ahead and permit a vote, with a provisional vote from Sacavage that could be voided later.
Then Clausi raised the issue of Johnson’s proposed salary, some $10,000 more than Reish currently earns, pointing out that the original starting salary for the position is $33.133.
“We’re giving him a $20,000 raise,” he said.
Erdman said all the candidates for the position wanted about the same amount, even while Clausi said he wouldn’t vote for any raise greater than $5,000 over the starting salary.
At the end, however, the salary board, including Sacavage, vote unanimously to hire Johnson at the stated $57,551 salary.
