Feb. 20--The Luzerne County Correctional Facility Board plans to appoint Joseph J. Piazza prison warden at Monday's meeting, board Chairman Wister Yuhas said.

"He's going to be on the agenda," Yuhas said Thursday, adding Piazza passed a background check and polygraph test.

Piazza, a retired state prison superintendent from Pringle, said he plans to start working at the county prison after Monday's board meeting.

"I will start going to business. I'm ready to go," Piazza said. "The first thing I want to do is sit down with the prison board and (Deputy Warden) Sam Hyder and find out how the jail is functioning. That's the first order of business. From there, I will decide where I'm headed with goals."

Gene Fischi retired as warden in December, and the prison board interviewed 10 of 13 applicants for the job. After a second round of interviews with the top three candidates, four of the five board members choose Piazza, while Commissioner Greg Skrepenak picked Hyder.

"I do believe that of the 13, he was the right candidate," Yuhas said. "With him and Sam, we'll have a good team that compliments each other."

Piazza's annual salary will be $1,000 more than Sam Hyder's salary, which is $74,263, Yuhas said. Fischi's salary was $86,994 last year.

Piazza, 57, worked for the state Department of Corrections for 33 years. He retired from the department last June as superintendent of the State Correctional Institution at Coal Township in Northumberland County. His annual salary was $115,208 when he retired, according to state records.

Luzerne County's prison population is less than 1,000 inmates. The main prison on Water Street dates back to the 1860s and is overcrowded. The county has had funding problems for years, and county commissioners have shelved plans to build a new county jail. SCI-Coal Township opened in May 1993 as a medium-security institution for men and presently houses nearly 1,820 inmates.

mbuffer@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2073

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