The fact-finding process has begun into Onondaga County's proposal to close the Jamesville Correctional Facility and bring all corrections operations to the Downtown Justice Center in Syracuse. But a decision doesn’t appear to be imminent following several county legislature committee meetings.
On Monday, Deputy County Executive Ann Rooney reiterated the reasons the county wants to make the move. Centralized arraignment, Raise the Age and Bail reform in recent years all have reduced Jamesville’s population by 50%. At the same time, the downtown Justice Center is understaffed, and there is an issue getting individuals arraigned in a timely manner.
After trying administrative fixes for three years, Rooney said shutting down Jamesville is the only answer.
"Last year we had double the number of retirements than total of new staff coming in. And it’s untenable to keep operating," Rooney said. We’re fortunate that we have a potential solution for a few years to combine the facilities and combine the staff."
While county officials say something needs to be done as soon as possible, the situation is exacerbated by the fact that Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley has only been on the job for just over two weeks. In that time, Undersheriff Jeffrey Passino said a shuffling of personnel has eased the arraignment issue. He wants lawmakers to give Shelley more time to figure out how to deal with all the issues.
“It’s going to give us time to assess what the issues are at the sheriff’s office, not just for corrections and custody," said Passino. "We have to look at the whole office to see what’s working and what’s not and how to make effective changes for the citizens of the county."
Mark Olson, chair of the Onondaga County legislature's public safety committee, said he’s willing to give the sheriff’s department that time to drill down into the department’s issues. He wants more information sessions, including one at Jamesville, and doesn’t see the legislature voting on the issue during its next session in February.
"You don’t want to rush and make a wrong decision," said Olson. "But in the end I think every one has to come to the realization that a decision needs to be made."
Legislature Minority Leader Chris Ryan is pleased there is no rush to a decision. But he admits there is still a large gulf between two sides on the issue, including a question of who has the authority to shut Jamesville down, the county or the state.
"It’s a big component of this," said Ryan. "Until we get that question figured out, that’s a big, big, big, big piece of this puzzle."
Ultimately, Olson said there’s one underlying fact overshadowing this whole debate, which is a dramatic reduction in the number of people who want a job in the corrections department, and all of county government.
"22 people took the civil service test last time. Three years ago, over 400 people took it," Olson said. "So we know we have an issue. And that’s not being addressed right now."
