A federal judge has ordered Philadelphia to set aside $25 million to ramp up recruitment and retention efforts for the city's Department of Prisons, just over a month after the court found the city in contempt of a settlement in a lawsuit over prison conditions.

U.S. District Judge Gerald A. McHugh ordered the city to set aside money approximately equal to what it had under-spent on its prison budget due to short-staffing since 2020, which would be earmarked for implementing other court-ordered remedial measures aimed at increasing prison staffing, increasing prisoner access to healthcare, and reducing crowding, according to the order issued Friday.

"As an equitable remedy imposed under this court's contempt power, the city of Philadelphia is ordered to pay the sum of 25 million dollars into the registry of this court," it said. "The funds are to be designated for use exclusively to comply with the terms of this order, with the city required to submit periodic reports to the court as to all disbursements."

The order came in response to the court's July 12 finding that Philadelphia was in civil contempt for failure to satisfy key components of a 2022 settlement, particularly its requirements for increasing staffing and inmates' "out-of-cell time."

The judge said in a footnote that he was open to additional arguments over whether "any form of coercive or compensatory sanction" was also warranted.

Philadelphia had entered a settlement in June 2022 stemming from a 2020 class action complaint that had originally claimed that conditions at Philadelphia's prison facilities were putting inmates at increased risk of COVID-19, while also leaving them locked in their cells for unreasonable amounts of time.

The settlement had called for increased hiring and retention of correctional officers to adequately cover all shifts, but the contempt order said that two years after signing the deal, the city still had not done so.

Friday's order said Philadelphia would have three months to hire a recruitment firm specializing in correctional officers. The city must also study if there are positions currently filled by correctional officers that could be filled by "civilian employees" instead, and was authorized to immediately start offering its officers double pay if necessary to fill all the open shifts.

The order said the city should expand its pool of potential recruits by allowing applicants from outside Pennsylvania, and by allowing former employees to reapply within a year of quitting instead of five years.

To entice new and current employees to stay, the department will create a "wellness program" with a dedicated coordinator, and will compare correctional officers' wages and benefits to other city employees and identify the differences, the order said.

Outside of hiring more people, the order requires Philadelphia to increase spending on contractors for prison healthcare, and to provide more "rounds" checking up on prisoners in their cells until the facilities come in line with the increased out-of-cell time requirements. Telehealth services will be implemented to help reduce the staffing needed to transport prisoners to outside healthcare services, even if it costs more, the order said.

Philadelphia must also provide "law library" computer terminals in every facility over the next year, and must put in place a system for "prompt and efficient scanning, without violating any attorney-client privilege" of legal documents and paperwork to screen for contraband, the order said.

The prison commissioner was also ordered to identify any way to reduce crowding by relocating inmates to other secure facilities. A staff member will be required to do monthly evaluations of who was eligible for bail but still in prison because of an inability to pay, and identify those who are being held for less than $100,000, have significant healthcare needs, are being held on relatively minor charges or are otherwise considered a low risk.

"We're disappointed in the finding of contempt, but have the utmost respect for Judge McHugh and his judgment in crafting this order," said Philadelphia Prisons Commissioner Michael Resnick in a statement. "The situation at the Philadelphia Department of Prisons has developed over years. We are hopeful that the measures Judge McHugh has ordered will provide the system with the tools needed to achieve compliance by removing barriers to our efforts to recruit, hire and retain staff in order to provide the inmate population with services on a consistent basis."

The $25 million, which the court noted was approximately equal to what the city had under-spent on its prisons budget due primarily to understaffing during the pendency of the lawsuit, will be used to help bring the city into compliance with the settlement.

Counsel for the prisoners did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.

The prisoners are represented by David Rudovsky, Jonathan H. Feinberg, Susan M. Lin and Grace Harris of Kairys Rudovsky Messing Feinberg & Lin LLP, Matthew A. Feldman, Su Ming Yeh and Sarah Bleiberg Bellos of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, Will W. Sachse of Dechert LLP, and Bret Grote, Nia Holston and Rupalee Rashatwar of the Abolitionist Law Center.

Philadelphia is represented by Anne B. Taylor of the City of Philadelphia Law Department.

The case is Remick et al. v. City of Philadelphia et al., case number 2:20-cv-01959, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

--Editing by Adam LoBelia.