Mar. 8—EBENSBURG, Pa. — The Cambria County Prison is set to reopen a housing unit that has been closed since 2019, according to Warden Christian Smith.

Smith told the prison's board at its monthly meeting Wednesday that Housing Unit F was closed by the prison in December 2019.

"Due to a recent increase in our population, we anticipate the need to reopen Housing Unit F," Smith said.

He told the board that due to how the unit was constructed, only inmates cleared to work outside the facility, or low-security inmates, will be housed in the unit.

"Last week, the unit was inspected, cleaned, any maintenance needs were completed, it was restocked with supplies and it is now ready for use," Smith said.

He added that there are currently 360 inmates and he expects that number to increase over the next several months due to the prison housing inmates through a contract with the U.S. Marshals Service.

Currently, the prison is housing 75 inmates for the U.S. Marshals Service.

Contract negotiations with the U.S. Marshals Service is expected to begin soon.