Sen. Patty Ritchie hopes two bills she proposed will reduce local county jail overcrowding and reduce the tax burden by requiring the state to move more quickly when picking up inmates and placing them back in state prisons.

Both bills were approved by the Senate Wednesday.

In St. Lawrence County, the overcrowding has increased costs and dimished revenues for the St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff Kevin Wells said the jail used to bring revenue in from housing prisoners from other counties, but with more full beds from local criminals, the extra money has dwindled.

Since January the St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators have passed multiple adjustments to the sheriff’s budget in order to offset the revenue loss.

According to recent statistics shared by Sen. Ritchie, nearly a thousand state parole violators are in county jails for extended periods of time—all at a cost to taxpayers.

“In Jefferson, Oswego and St. Lawrence counties, localities are bearing the cost of detaining the state’s prisoners who have been released on parole. Not only that, but the overcrowding is causing some leaders to call for expansions, ” said Ritchie.

Ritchie represents the western portion of St. Lawrence County including Ogdensburg, Canton and Gouverneur.

“This legislation—which is strongly supported by the Sheriff’s departments in Central and Northern New York—will help to ease overcrowding issues and reduce the burden placed on taxpayers,” Ritchie said in a news release.

The first measure, Senate bill 3697, would require parole violators to be transferred to a state correctional facility after 10 business days in a local correctional facility. The second, Senate bill 5423, would establish a two-year pilot program in the counties of St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Oswego for parole violators to be transferred to a state correctional facility after 10 business days in a local correctional facility.

Ritchie said both bills were delivered to the Assembly.