Schuylkill County officials reiterated Wednesday that the March 2013 death of an inmate in the county prison does not mean new policies should be adopted.
Warden Eugene Berdanier said he will review the DVD tapes showing Matthew Koncsler, 21, of Shenandoah, who died behind bars on March 31, 2013.
Koncsler's death was the subject of a coroner's inquest on March 31, 2014, with the six-person jury concluding his death was due to an accidental drug overdose with official neglect contributing to it.
However, jurors did not name any particular person as having been negligent, and county President Judge William E. Baldwin emphasized that at Wednesday's meeting.
"Did they find somebody criminally responsible by neglect?" Baldwin asked.
"No," said District Attorney Christine A. Holman, who questioned the witnesses during the inquest at the Simon Kramer Institute, New Philadelphia.
County Coroner Dr. David J. Moylan III, who presided over the inquest, suggested possible changes at the prison. They included doctors examining incoming prisoners, X-raying them or have cells without running water for inmates suspected of having drugs.
Berdanier said the more than 80 cameras at the prison are programmed to pick up movement and activate when cell doors are opened.
He said that tapes exist of all the days that Koncsler was in prison.
Holman said there might have been a miscommunication involving prison officials and Deputy Coroner Joseph Pothering, who testified during the inquest that prison officials told him the tapes from March 28 to 29, 2013, were gone.
Board Chairman George F. Halcovage Jr., a county commissioner, said Koncsler's death should not tarnish the prison or its employees.
"It was an unfortunate incident. The track record is extremely good," he said.
Francis J. Komykoski, vice president of operations for PrimeCare Medical Inc., Harrisburg, the prison's medical provider, said the company's policies conform to national standards for prisons.
Halcovage agreed.
"We're following best practices," Halcovage said.