Note: Board Members listed here are those individuals listed as Board Members in the 2017 City Salary records on opengov.us, linked below. The public listings for the Philadelphia Department of Prisons Board of Trustees [or, in some places "Board of Advisors"] are incomplete and difficult to find. RTK sent out 1/1/2018. The Chair appears to be Reverend Damon B. Jones: http://www.philasun.com/local/reverend-dr-damone-b-jones-appointed-new-chairman-board-of-trustees-of-philadelphia-prisons-system/ The most recent complete list of the board members comes from salary data for Quarters 2 and 3 of 2017 drawn from the City of Philadelphia, Department of Finance and post on Opengovus.com: https://opengovus.com/philadelphia-employee?q=PHILA.+PRISONS+board It's still unclear to me whether the change of the boards duties that happened in 2015(?) by city vote has changed the composition of the board. If so, the data above has inaccuracies - for instance, there are 12 Board Members listed in 2017. 7 are listed as employees in Q3 2017, and the rest are only reported going into Q2 2017. I will check the primary records to see if opengov has been fully updated. If accurate the City Charter lists membership as: § 3-916. Board of Trustees of Philadelphia Prisons. 63 The Board of Trustees of Philadelphia Prisons shall be composed of six appointed members and the Prisons Commissioner. It lists its purpose as: § 5-1201. Board of Trustees of Philadelphia Prisons. The Board of Trustees of Philadelphia Prisons, after receiving public comment, shall from time to time adopt standards and guidelines relating to City correctional institutions, including standards and guidelines relating to the creation and maintenance of a secure and humane correctional environment; the rehabilitation and training of inmates; and the preparation of inmates for reentry into society. The Commissioner of Prisons and all other City officials shall consider the standards and guidelines adopted by the Board of Trustees of Philadelphia Prisons when taking or considering any official action relating to the City's correctional facilities. This paragraph shall not confer any rights upon any individual. Clearest info on current status is from a WHYY article:https://whyy.org/articles/prisons-silence-on-city-inmates-murder-perturbs-reformers/ "...the old board of trustees was abolished in 2015 and another formed. The new board is considered advisory, and its quarterly meetings are closed to the public."