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Steinhaus delivered a seven-page veto message to the Legislature at 5:01 p.m. on Friday, the last day he had to act on the legislation.

Kendall, R-Dover, said 5 p.m. is considered the close of business, so he's not sure it was a "legal veto."

Adding to the uncertainty, Kendall said, is the fact that Steinhaus failed to sign the veto message.

"So that also calls into question the legality of the veto," he said. "We're going to look at it. If it is a legal veto, he just blew a $2.5 million hole into the 2005 budget of the county."

Kendall said he is not inclined to bring the legislation back to the Legislature for an override vote.

"We'll talk about it, but in reality, to have this whole project work the way it should work, everybody has to be on board," he said. "If the county executive's not on board, I'm not sure what would be accomplished by forcing him on board with a questionable veto."

The Dutchess County Jail has been overcrowded since it opened its doors in 1996. Since that time, the state Commission of Correction has given the county variances to house 32 inmates more than allowed in the 285-bed facility.

A current 30-day variance expires on Jan. 31, and commission officials have said that without immediate action, they will not issue future variances. The commission wants the county to add 300 cells to the jail.

Even with the variance, the county is forced to house roughly 30 inmates each day in facilities outside the county, at a cost of $100 per day plus transportation and staffing expenses. In 2004, the county spent more than $1 million to house inmates in jails outside Dutchess County.

The legislation vetoed by Steinhaus would have satisfied the state commission's demand and probably would have allowed the jail to continue to function above capacity until new cells are added. Without the variance, the county will be forced to house in out-of-county jails those inmates currently in the Dutchess jail under the waiver.

Commission spokesman Lyle Hartog said Friday that the commission is reserving comment until it officially is notified by the county of the executive veto.

In his veto message, Steinhaus called the jail expansion unaffordable and ill-conceived and said the anticipated expense would break the backs of county taxpayers. To build the jail the commission wants, he said, would cost the county $130 million over the life of the bond.

He also cast blame for overcrowding on the justice system, which he said places unreachable bails on nonviolent criminals charged with misdemeanors, and on the state, which he said uses the county jail as a "dumping ground" for parole violators.

"The state Corrections Commission has the obligation to help counties as a partner, not act as big brother," he wrote. "New York State Parole has the obligation to stop dumping its parolees onto the backs of county taxpayers. Our state senators and assemblymen have the obligation to meet with the sheriff and county legislative leaders to identify ways that state prisoners, as a result of their state policies, are not dumped from state prisons into parole, only to be dumped into county jails."

Kendall declined to comment on Steinhaus' specific comments, saying he had not seen the executive veto message.
©Daily Freeman 2005
This victory is due in part to the work of Dana Kaplan!