Great Meadow Correctional Facility is one of two upstate prisons that the state announced would close at the beginning of November. The other facility is Sullivan Correctional in Sullivan County.  

Great Meadow, in Washington County, is a maximum-security prison with a staff (as of August 2024) of 636 people and an inmate population of just 401, when it can handle almost 1,600. So it would appear to be underutilized. 

But there’s a reason its inmate population is low: The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) has invested millions of dollars to renovate parts of the prison, and to accommodate those renovations, it had to relocate prisoners to other facilities. 

According to spokesman Thomas Mailey, who didn’t reference relocating prisoners, DOCCS’ spending on renovations at Great Meadow has totaled $54 million over five years, and the decision to spend that money was made before the state’s decision to close the facility.  

“With the facility closing in November, the projects will help preserve the State’s assets for any possible reuse of the property. The Department is currently evaluating all current construction projects at Great Meadow and has already cancelled two projects. The review is ongoing,” Mailey wrote in an emailed response to questions from Capital Tonight. 

While the state promised there will be no layoffs, and will offer prison staffers other positions, upstate Assemblymember Carrie Woerner (D-Round Lake), who serves on the Rural Resources and Local Governments committees, argues there will be significant disruption for staffers, many of whom live in her district, which is adjacent to Great Meadow. 

“The closest corrections facility that they would transfer to is right across the street, but that will only take 60 staff, the next closest is one hour and 47 minutes away. And the next closest after that is over two hours away,” Woerner said. “The impacts on families are significant.”

Additionally, Washington County is unhappy with the process of the announced Great Meadow closure. 

Stephen Acquario, executive director of the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC), told Capital Tonight that there wasn’t enough notice that Great Meadow was shutting down. 

The State is required to provide 90 days’ notice, which it did. 

"But there’s been no discussion with the community," Acquario said. "I’ve been in constant contact with the Washington County Board of Supervisors. They are concerned for their way of life."

 Acquario argues that Great Meadow is a unique prison with a behavioral health unit, a hospital, and a dental clinic that will all have to be replicated elsewhere in the state, eating into any savings the state might see from the prison’s closure.

DOCCS’ Mailey clarified Acquario’s statement.

“All incarcerated individuals in DOCCS’ correctional facilities have access to dental care,” Mailey told Capital Tonight. “The Department is evaluating all the programs currently offered at Great Meadow and determining which may move and where.”

In response, Acquario stated, “The community is going to be devastated. There should be a community impact fee for Washington County and the surrounding region. They feel abandoned by the state.”

But according to DOCCS, the process of working with staff and unions on transferring to other facilities is already underway. 

“Security and civilian staff have met with DOCCS Human Resources,” Mailey wrote. 

Both Republican and Democratic members of the legislature are mobilizing. State Sen. Dan Stec (R – Glens Falls), who represents the Great Meadow district, has created an online petition. Assemblymember Woerner sent DOCCS’ Commissioner Daniel Martuscello III a letter in which she expressed her dismay at the planned closure and said she was skeptical of the department’s ability to repurpose the facility.