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Sheriff Wells, Sen. Ritchie back bill to ease crowding in county jails; just approved by state Senate

Posted 6/24/11

St. Lawrence County Sheriff Kevin Wells and state Sen. Patty Ritchie, R-Heuvelton, are backing a bill requiring the state to more quickly pick up its inmates from county jails and place them back in …

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Sheriff Wells, Sen. Ritchie back bill to ease crowding in county jails; just approved by state Senate

Posted

St. Lawrence County Sheriff Kevin Wells and state Sen. Patty Ritchie, R-Heuvelton, are backing a bill requiring the state to more quickly pick up its inmates from county jails and place them back in state prisons.

The bill, just approved in the state Senate, should help ease crowding in some county lockups, says RItchie.

The bill gives the state Department of Correctional Services 10 days to move parole violators from county jails to state facilities. Right now, nearly a thousand state parole violators are in county jails, forcing local taxpayers to pick up the tab, sometimes for months at a time, Ritchie said.

Even though his jail is not overcrowded, St. Lawrence County Sheriff Kevin Wells recognizes that other facilities are overfilled, and the bill additionally shifts responsibility for the inmates -- and the expense -- back on the state for prisoners that should be in state facilities.

“We, as sheriffs, have asked Senator Ritchie to help ease the overcrowding problem facing county jails across the state by forcing New York State to take back these parole violators,” Sheriff Wells said. “The state needs to stop shifting prisoners and the costs of housing these parole violators onto county jails. The sheriffs and the hard-pressed county taxpayers have had enough of unfunded mandates by the State of New York.”

“Ironically, we are talking about closing empty state prisons while counties are looking at building expensive additions to their jails to hold inmates that don’t belong to them,” Ritchie said, pointing out that state prisoners in county jails can cost local taxpayers thousands of dollars a day to house, feed and guard.

Under the bill, the state would have to reimburse counties for the cost of any state inmate that is left in a county jail beyond the 10-day limit.

Ritchie said she would be meeting with the sponsor of an equivalent bill in the Assembly.