SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- Police in Saint John are once again searching for a federal inmate at-large after he left the Parrtown Community Correctional Centre and didn't come back.

James Halleran is serving an eight-year sentence for charges that include aggravated assault and discharge of a firearm with intent.

This is not the first time the now 31-year-old has  not returned to Parrtown. Back in 2018, he was at-large for more than two months before being taken back into custody.

"The fact that it happens again and again is something I'm very concerned about," says Saint John-Rothesay MP Wayne Long.

It's the second time an inmate failed to return to the facility in just over a week.

Long says he wants to see the federal department of Department of Public Safety take a look at Parrtown.

"Not just Parrtown," Long said. "I mean there are these facilities are right across Canada. Work with the union, work with PSAC, to make sure we have the proper staffing in place."

The Union of Safety and Justice Employees is advocating for the reinstatement of the community correctional liaison officer at Parrtown, a non-union position cut in 2014.

"That's a person that's on contract or from loan from the Saint John City Police, usually, and they were at our site and they would assist us in going out and recapturing the offenders that have gone unlawfully at large," said the union's Carol Osborne.

For now, the search continues for Halleran, who is described as being five-foot-six, 140 pounds with blue eyes and receding brown hair.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts should call police or Crimestoppers.