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| Dutchess jail needs broad response |
| By poughkeepsiejournal.com |
| Published: 08/15/2011 |
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It's a fact: Over the last few decades the state has substantially cut the number of inmates it is housing and is closing more prisons, all the while forcing counties to spend tens of millions of dollars, if not more, on local jails. Dutchess County has avoided that scenario because Executive William Steinhaus insists the state's position is blatantly unfair to the counties. He has a point. But the county still has a major problem. The county jail is way over capacity and has been since the last expansion in the mid-1990s. And the situation has grown considerably worse, with the county typically being forced to house more than 150 inmates in out-of-county facilities at great expense. When you calculate the costs of paying the other facilities and add the overtime the sheriff's office pays to transport the prisons to and from court appearances, etc., the county is going to be shelling out $4 million this year alone, with no end in sight. With the blessing of the county legislature, Chairman Robert Rolison has tapped an advisory panel to study "all the issues surrounding our jail population" and make recommendations. Heaven knows, many of these issues have been bantered about before. Publicly, the state corrections department has insisted Dutchess double its jail size and add 300 more beds. Yet, over the years, the state also has given clear indications it would work with the county on a compromise, an expansion of perhaps half that number. The state also has been clear that Dutchess officials — including the executive, legislative branches and sheriff's office — would have to reach a consensus on how to proceed. That has never happened. Read More. |
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