Essex County Jail is money-making venture

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October 14, 2009

By LOHR McKINSTRY The Press Republican Wed Oct 14, 2009, 11:35 PM EDT

ELIZABETHTOWN — By the end of last month, the new Essex County Jail had generated $1.1 million from boarding outside prisoners.

Sheriff Henry Hommes said that by the end of the year, the jail may be able to cover its $1.5 million annual bond payment out of boarding revenue.

But one county lawmaker pointed out that the jail still has a $3.7 million annual operating cost on top of the bond payment.

"There are still a lot of costs associated with operating the jail," Supervisor Thomas Scozzafava (R-Moriah) said.

The $35 million jail and Public Safety Building in Lewis opened in October 2007 with about 35 local inmates.

This week, 66 inmates are housed in the jail, Hommes said, 31 local and 35 boarded from other jurisdictions.

He said that as of Sept. 30 the jail had generated $1.1 million in boarding revenue for the year, with three months to go.

"I think that's a pretty good figure."

The county was forced by the State Commission of Correction to build a new, 120-bed jail after the 150-year-old jail in Elizabethtown failed inspections.

Because of the closure, the county was spending $700,000 a year to board out its own inmates before the new jail opened.

Scozzafava has asked for a feasibility report detailing operating costs at the jail versus the cost and income from boarding outside prisoners.

Hommes said the operating costs would be about the same since the staffing levels are imposed by the State Commission of Correction.

"The commission has set up the number of people we need to operate the jail. The only way I see those numbers dropping is if we went below 30 inmates and could house everybody in one pod."

The jail is divided into four inmate pods of 30 cells each.

E-mail Lohr McKinstry at: lmckinstry@pressrepublican.com