POUGHKEEPSIE – Construction of the Dutchess County Justice and Transition Center (JTC), which will replace the current Dutchess County Jail is still under construction. The entire $131 million facility was originally expected to be ready for inmates by August of this year, with the total project completion slated for 2024.
Those dates may be pushed back because of the issues surrounding the current emergency housing shelter at the temporary PODS behind a portion of the current jail. County Executive William O’Neil said the PODS need to be removed to make way for the construction of the stormwater management system and parking lot for the new JTC. To compensate for removing the homeless shelter, O’Neil asked the county legislature to spend $725,000 to pay for the consultant architects, engineers, and construction managers needed to develop bid documents for the renovation work at the old jail to make it ready to serve as a homeless shelter. The funding will also pay for a construction manager for the retrofitting of the old jail.
The Republican-controlled legislature approved O’Neil’s plan earlier this week while the Democrats denounced the plan as reckless spending. The Democrats also chastised O’Neil and his administration for the “deplorable conditions” at the PODS, which the Democrats just learned about this week.
The new JTC, in theory, will have space to house 308 inmates. State regulations regarding the housing of certain inmates have the ability to reduce the capacity to 250 inmates, according to Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Colonel Gerard Lennon.
