Does every county in upstate New York really need its own jail? In Sullivan County, whose jail is falling apart and has been partly shut down by the state, legislators don't think so--and state senator John Bonacic agrees. The senator just introduced legislation to allow counties to share regional facilities, the Mid-Hudson News reports.
Bonacic’s bill would allow counties to build, finance, refinance and maintain regional jails instead of requiring each county to maintain one. The legislation would also allow long term agreements between a county with an existing jail and a county which would otherwise need to build a new one.
Background: Catskill Chronicle visits the crumbling Sullivan County jail, says "Dracula would have felt right at home."
A May, 2009 New York Times story on the movement for municipal consolidation in New York State.
