The Pennsylvania Prison Society has named Matt Dugan, a former chief public defender for Allegheny County, as its first Western Pennsylvania region director.
Headquartered in Philadelphia, the Prison Society is a nonprofit advocacy group for incarcerated people. The only organization in the state with legal authority to visit any prison or jail, it is tasked with monitoring all 85 correctional institutions across the commonwealth.
Dugan’s new position reflects the nonprofit’s efforts to grow its presence in Western Pennsylvania.
Dugan told TribLive his first priority is telling the public “what the prison society is, what it does. It was founded as a statewide organization, but all of its efforts and all of its reputation has been made by the work that’s being done in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties out there.”
The Prison Society calls Western Pennsylvania the region with the highest number of incarcerated people in the state, with 35 prisons and jails housing over 23,000.
Over the past five years, the Prison Society has been increasing its work in the region by starting mentoring programs and growing its network of volunteers monitoring prison conditions.
In 2025 the Prison Society had more than 14,000 calls, emails or letters come into its helpline, according to the impact report.
In June, the Prison Society launched programming for people incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail, focused on developing social support networks to address the logistical and emotional challenges of reentry after incarceration.
As the Western Pennsylvania region director, Dugan will oversee expansion of the Prison Society in Allegheny and surrounding counties, including Butler, Beaver, Washington, Fayette.
Surrounding counties will use the same programming as Allegheny, which includes a six-week curriculum designed to build and maintain relationships that can prevent recidivism and other negative outcomes — such as securing housing and finding employment.
“I look forward to obviously tapping back into the relationships that I have in Allegheny,” Dugan said, “but moreso, bringing that institutional knowledge to these other counties and showing how we can be a resource there.”
On Wednesday, Allegheny County had more than 1,880 people in physical custody, while surrounding counties had significantly less.
According to the Prison Society’s interactive map on Wednesday, Beaver had 209 people, Butler had 370, Fayette had 201 and Washington had 349 people.
Dugan will be responsible for building and maintaining relationships with volunteers, corrections administrators, elected officials and existing oversight bodies, such as the Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board. Dugan said he was not yet sure how the Jail Oversight Board and Prison Society’s monitoring efforts will interact with one another.
Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, who is also a member of the Jail Oversight Board, was not made available for comment, nor were other members of the Jail Oversight Board. Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin Kraus declined to comment.
Claire Shubik-Richards, executive director of the Prison Society, credited Dugan’s prior experience for fostering his understanding of the realities of Pennsylvania prisons and jails.
“He has an intricate knowledge of our criminal legal system. We could not have envisioned a better, more compassionate and knowledgeable leader to expand our impact in Western Pennsylvania,” Shubik-Richards said in a statement.
Dugan spent more than 15 years in the Allegheny County Public Defender’s office. He served as chief public defender from 2020 until stepping down in 2023 to run for county district attorney against the incumbent, Stephen A. Zappala Jr.
Dugan beat Zappala in the 2023 Democratic primary. But he lost the general election to Zappala, who ran as a Republican.
Following the campaign, Dugan did some private work and began teaching at Community College of Allegheny County.
“But I missed that systemwide involvement,” he said. “So when this opportunity arose, I thought it was pretty interesting. It’s definitely different work than I was doing at the Public Defender’s Office, but it’s certainly in the same arena, and it’s a new challenge.”
Dugan said the Prison Society expects to establish a physical office in the Pittsburgh area by the end of the year. The office will serve as a gathering point for volunteers across counties.