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May 12, 2005
NY: Democrats Offer Ideas to Trim Jail Population
Minority lawmakers against expansion
By Anthony Farmer
Poughkeepsie Journal, Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Democratic legislators have several ideas on how to handle overcrowding at the Dutchess County Jail. Building a multimillion-dollar addition isn't one of them.
The Legislature's eight Democrats released a multipoint plan Monday for dealing with the fact the jail routinely has many more inmates than it is approved to hold at the facility on North Hamilton Street in the City of Poughkeepsie.
The Republican majority tried this year to spend more than $500,000 for a design of a jail expansion. Democrats opposed that measure and Republican County Executive William Steinhaus vetoed it.
Democrats called for expanding programs that divert criminals from incarceration and trying to help them avoid repeating mistakes. They suggested placing more people under house arrest using electronic monitoring. And they proposed establishing a program to help inmates make bail and spend less time locked up before their trials.
If all those things are done, "there should be no reason to build more cells," said Minority Whip Sandra Goldberg, D-Wappinger. "We're not willing to spend money to design [an expansion] until it's really clear what we need."
The state Commission of Correction, which oversees jails, has been pressing the county to nearly double the size of its jail by adding spots for at least 300 more inmates. The expansion could cost as much as $70 million, not including finance costs or staffing and upkeep.
No more waivers
Only last week, the county had 315 inmates in a jail approved to hold 257. The county used to receive waivers to squeeze around 300 inmates into the facility, but the state yanked those because the county has been dragging its feet on expansion.
Legislature Chairman Brad Kendall, R-Dover, agreed the 300-bed addition is too large but said the idea no expansion is needed is not realistic.
A global solution to the jail overcrowding is needed, Kendall said. Programs that provide alternatives to incarceration need to be enhanced while the county moves forward with designing an expansion, he said.
"You have to do it simultaneously," Kendall said. "It's only then you can go to the commission and get them to back off their demand for a 300-cell expansion."
Anthony Farmer can be reached at apfarmer@poughkeepsiejournal.com
Posted by lois at May 12, 2005 11:16 PM