Lawyers presented oral arguments Thursday morning in a lawsuit filed last June against the Onondaga County Legislature by county Sheriff Toby Shelley.

The case, while not directly tied to the closing of the Jamesville Correctional Facility, could provide a clear view of what its future entails. County Executive Ryan McMahon has said if the suit proves unsuccessful, the Jamesville facility will be closed, with all inmates moved to the justice center in downtown Syracuse.

Shelley is arguing the Onondaga County Legislature didn’t have the power to pass a law, 1-2023, that would close the facility and move inmates downtown. The primary issue at stake, he said, is public safety.

“If we fail at public safety, if we fail with this argument, this county will fail,” a disgruntled Shelley told reporters after the hearing.

A previous local law had given the county sheriff authority to supervise sentenced individuals and “manage the penitentiary” —  a phrase that led to disagreement between attorneys from the two sides on Thursday.

Attorney Steven Williams, representing the Onondaga County Legislature, said a new law passed by the legislators says the sheriff manages and operates the jail, while the county can decide what buildings are purchased and used.

State Judge Joseph Lamendola repeatedly asked Shelley’s attorney, Paul Leclair, what power the new law took away from the sheriff. Williams argued the new law doesn’t diminish Shelley’s power, but actually increases it. Shelley now has the ability to form a corrections division, Williams said, and the new law creates a more “streamlined organizational chart.”

“Under the old law, the sheriff had the authority to manage people and oversee them, who were sentenced. And that is currently being done at the Jamesville Correctional Facility. The new law the sheriff is challenging gives him that same exact authority. In fact, it gives him more authority,” Williams said.

Leclair conceded the case isn’t about closing the facility — it’s about who has the power to do so, and he argued the power given to Shelley to control Jamesville had been stripped. Legislatively, Leclair noted, no one is currently in charge of the Jamesville facility, and Shelley filed the lawsuit to ensure there wasn’t a gap in authority.

Shelley said his powers have “definitely” been diminished by the new law. He estimated it costs about $6 million annually to move overflow inmates to other facilities, and noted there aren’t nearby prisons that could handle the roughly 80 inmates Jamesville currently has.

“I’m the guy that took the oath to keep you safe, and I can’t keep you safe if I don’t have a place to put bad guys,” Shelley said.

Lamendola said a ruling on whether to dismiss the case will be made within the next 60 days.

Shelley was elected county sheriff in November 2022, replacing Gene Conway, who agreed with McMahon the next month to shut down Jamesville and move the inmates. Shelley had asked county leaders for a year to figure out where inmates could be moved, but said the county declined.