Photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania Dept of Corrections Holding cells at Rockview State Prison are pictured in this file photo.

A trio of lawmakers from Clearfield and Centre Counties are calling for transparency when the state sells the land housing two soon-to-be-shuttered correctional facilities.

Reps. Scott Conklin (D-Centre), Dallas Kephart (R-Clearfield) and Paul Takac (D-Centre) said at a press conference Wednesday that they’d like to see a measure that would have state Attorney General Dave Sunday oversee the sale and require the commonwealth to make the sale and details of any bids public through the Pennsylvania bulletin. Bidding would be open at least 30 days, the lawmakers said.

“Despite our every effort, we were not able to stop the closure of SCI Rockview and Quehanna Boot Camp,” Conklin said. “But we can work to make sure that any sale of the underlying land happens in the fairest, most transparent way possible to prevent additional adverse impacts on residents.”

This month, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections released a final report recommending the closure of two correctional facilities, SCI-Rockview in Centre County and Quehanna Boot Camp in Clearfield County.

The bill would apply to roughly 5,700 acres of land around SCI-Rockview, which Conklin described as “some of the most prime real estate in all of the state.”

The property is near the Benner-Pike corridor between State College and Bellefonte, which has drawn interest from developers.

The three lawmakers said they were unaware of any potential buyers or plans to hastily sell off the land, but said the bill would “pre-empt” any insider or below market deal allowing a purchaser to get the land for a fraction of its value. They pointed broadly to a history of state land sales to politically connected individuals and organizations.

The Attorney General’s office would also be able to reject any bids, the lawmakers said.

In 2022, the Capital-Star covered the sale of nearly 200 acres in Lehigh Valley to a real estate development firm with ties to an outgoing lawmaker for $5.5 million.

“That’s what this bill intends to do, make sure no one is getting a little sweetheart deal on the side,” Kephart said. “It will be an open and transparent process.”

All three lawmakers opposed the closure of the two correctional facilities in their counties, citing concerns about potential job losses and impacts to the local economy.

“Rockview is in the heart of my district,” said Takac. “The decision to close that facility was absolutely the wrong call …Now that that decision has been made, my primary focus had been on doing everything we can to help and support the affected employees and their families … In addition, I’ll be making damn sure that the wind down of operations is handled responsibly, without ever burdening local taxpayers.”

In their final report on the proposed closures, the Department of Corrections warned of the possible costs to taxpayers if the state is unable to sell the land under the prisons. It placed annual mothballing costs for SCI-Rockview and Quehanna Boot Camp at nearly $1.6 million and $633,600, respectively.

It also estimated local vendors near the facilities could respectively lose around $5.8 million and $1.1 million annually.

The closures, however, are ultimately estimated to save taxpayers tens of millions over time.

Typically, state land sales are handled by the Department of General Services. The department did not respond directly to a request for comment, but pointed to a presentation on their website, which outlines the process.

“Each property has its unique set of circumstances and may be sold through an ITB competitive bid, SFP with Review Committee competitive bid, Direct Conveyance to Buyer or Direct Conveyance to a Redevelopment Authority,” it said.

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