Luzerne County’s prison system remains the top departmental expense in the proposed 2026 budget

Luzerne County’s prison system remains the top departmental expense in the proposed 2026 budget, as it has been for many years.

Spending for the county’s Correctional Services Division is budgeted at a proposed $33 million next year, which is a $1.5 million increase from this year’s budget.

This covers costs to staff and house inmates at both the prison on Water Street and nearby minimal offenders building on Reichard Street in Wilkes-Barre.

“We have strived over the last few years to keep the budget in line,” said county Correctional Services Division Head James Wilbur, who is set to formally present his budget to County Council at its Tuesday meeting.

”The majority of the budget, when you break it down, is for salaries and benefits and the medical care which we are required to provid