Onondaga County will consider a plan to close the county's Jamesville Correctional Facility, moving inmates and employees to the downtown Justice Center, County Executive Ryan McMahon said Friday.
The plan needs to pass the county legislature early next year, saving the county millions of dollars a year, McMahon said. The Jamesville facility costs about $20 million to operate.
McMahon cited a declining inmate population at Jamesville and staff shortages at the downtown facility, as well as meeting the requirments of a lawsuit settlement that mandates the county improve its ability to get inmates from the Justice Center to arraignments.
"We need the legislature to take this issue up very quickly. We are under obligations in the lawsuit," McMahon said. "We can't afford to wait any longer."
If the issue of getting inmates to court persists, McMahon warns it could cost the county millions of dollars.
A lack of staffing at the Justice Center also has meant more lockdowns, limited visitation, limited recreation and limited education and programming, McMahon said.
McMahon said Sheriff-elect Toby Shelley has been briefed on the plan, though Shelley didn't want swift action taken.
“I would consider the process of looking into it to get the facts. This may be a very bad idea. We don’t know. There’s not enough facts," Shelley told reporters Friday afternoon.
The incoming sheriff, the first Democrat to hold the office in nearly 40 years, said he has already begun the process of talking to county lawmakers regarding the decision they will have to make at some point on the facility.
“I would encourage the county legislature on Dec. 20 — because they’re meeting then — to give this a lot of time to look into it and not rush into this. If anything, delay it," he said.
When asked if the decision and its timing seemed suspicious, Shelley said, "it does seem strange, doesn’t it? Twenty-two days, we have a lame duck sheriff, and 22 days out, they do this. It does seem strange to me.”
All 85 employees at Jamesville will be offered jobs downtown, outgoing Sheriff Gene Conway said, and they will see a boost in pay. The union that represents them, however, said they were surprised and disappointed by the decision.
"The decision to seek the closure of the Jamesville Correctional Facility under a lame-duck administration is highly questionable,” Onondaga County Local 834 President Dan Vadala said. “Our members have always invested in the success of the Jamesville facility, consistently outperforming the facility downtown, despite the County actively undermining the work our members do for the community every day. We urge the legislature to allow Sheriff-elect Toby Shelley and his new administration the opportunity to assess their needs and make their own decision when he takes office and not allow this proposal to get rushed forward before the outgoing Sheriff leaves office in three short weeks."
Combined, the Justice Center and Jamesville have about 600 people housed. The Justice Center alone has 665 beds, officials said.
"By consolidating the operations, we will have one strong operation," the county executive said. "We need inmates to get the services they are entitled to."