CATSKILL – Greene County, which has been housing out its inmates after the crumbling county jail was deemed unsafe, appears headed to approving construction of a new county jail.
It costs the county about $100,000 per month to transport and house the inmates, averaging about 50 a day, in the Columbia and Ulster County jails.
County lawmakers have rejected a proposal to fund a study into building a joint facility with Columbia County.
Before approving a bond to pay for it, Public Safety Committee Chairman William Lawrence said they continue to review the required size of a new facility and its costs.
“We delayed it to put out some information about the jail and the options,” Lawrence said. “We put some frequently asked questions on our website. We have been looking at all of the contingencies to be sure that our package is correct, up-to-date and agreeable to most of the legislators who are going to vote for it in September.”
The bonding authorization is proposed at $39 million for the jail, estimated
to cost $47 million. The county would fund the balance over the next three
years at $8 million.
The new Greene County Jail would be built on a 32-acre portion of a 50-acre site in Coxsackie donated by the state for building a jail.
The other antiquated county jail in the region, the Sullivan County Jail, is being
replaced with a new facility, which is in the final stages of construction
in Monticello.
Wagstaff survives Democratic challenger’s lawsuit
April 26, 2024
