A central security computer system at the Butler County Prison is being upgraded. Butler Eagle file photo

A central security computer system at the Butler County Prison is being upgraded.

The prison board on Tuesday approved a $215,800 contract with Cornerstone Inc. to replace the old computer system that operates doors, cameras and lights.

Warden Beau Sneddon told the board the current computers use a Windows 7 operating system, which is no longer supported, and will be replaced. The system is used thousands of times a day, he said.

The expenditure is included in this year’s budget, he added.

Delivery and installation have yet to be scheduled.

In addition, new computers that inmates and their lawyers can use to review discovery documents related to their cases have been purchased and are in use, Sneddon said.

The $25,000 cost for the 16 computers also is included in the budget. The computers allow inmates to look at the documents using thumb drives and passwords given to them by their attorneys, he said.

The computers do not have internet connections and are more secure than the laptop computers inmates have been using, he said.

There are about 120 laptops in the prison that inmates must sign up to use, Sneddon said. Officers deliver the laptops to the inmates and have to collect them when the inmates are finished. The prison owns some of the laptops and some were left by attorneys for the inmates they are representing to use. He said use of the laptops will cease.

Sneddon said inmates can use tablets to communicate with people outside of the prison, but those communications are monitored.

Certain words are “flagged” and corrections officers manually inspect photos, he said.

Inmates can also use the tablets to access the law library, review the inmate rule book, schedule visits, and, with the purchase of a premium plan, they can watch movies and listen to music, he said.