POUGHKEEPSIE – The head of Common Cause/New York criticized the proposed bond to build a new Dutchess County Jail, being called a “Justice and Transition Center”.
In a prepared statement issued Friday, Executive Director Susan Lerner said county residents “deserve a more open and objective examination of the underlying assumptions used to justify the proposed issuance of bonds for the construction of a larger county jail.”
Lerner said at a time when crime is declining in Dutchess and the rest of the state, “It is bewildering that the county legislature is rushing through measures to build a new jail based on projections that crime is on the rise.”
County Executive Marcus Molinaro, who said he has had no communication with Lerner, said the county has spent years planning the scope, size and cost of the project, which will be more than just a jail to house inmates.
“We have spent the last four-and-a-half years in a very intense analysis of the criminal justice system and we are proposing something that provides protection for victims of crime, appropriately treats individuals in the criminal justice system humanely, and seeks in fact to provide individuals in the system the right service and assistance to help break the cycle of crime and end and reduce recidivism,” Molinaro said.
The county legislature is poised to vote on the $192 million bond for the new facility on Monday evening. If approved, it would be built on the site of the current county jail in the City of Poughkeepsie.
