NORWICH – A resolution authorizing $20,000 in overtime payments at the Chenango County jail was pulled for discussion Monday at a meeting of the Board of Supervisors.
Town of Preston Supervisor Peter C. Flanagan requested further clarification on the resolution. “Now that we’ve had some experience with the new jail through the year, aren’t we fully staffed? What’s this cost for overtime?” he asked.
Safety and Rules Committee Chairman Alton B. Doyle, R-Guilford, said while the facility was fully-staffed with 58 corrections officers and sergeants for the first time since opening in February 2006, there were any number of officers away at training academies during the year. “That’s the reason for the overtime,” he said.
In total, the 129-bed jail and Public Safety Facility has so far required more than $200,000 in overtime in 2007, with the lion’s share paying for overtime in corrections. According to the New York State Commission of Correction and the Division of Criminal Justice Services, the facility is mandated to have a minimum of 63 corrections officers rotating on three shifts, 24-hour day. Chenango County Sheriff Thomas J. Loughren said he makes up for the five positions short, as well as other absences, with part-time officers working additional hours.
“When people aren’t there, we have to replace them,” he said.
There were approximately 15 corrections officers out of rank for training for six weeks each at any given period during 2007. The Sheriff said he had so many officers who required training at one point earlier in the year that the Chenango County facility conducted its own basic training academy.
“We did that to save money,” he said, adding that officers from other counties attended.
The Sheriff also pointed to 300 more book-ins this year than in 2006.
In other Public Safety Facility news, the county board authorized the acceptance of $6,200 in state grant funds for a child passenger safety program and gave the Sheriff the go-ahead to apply for a $9,000 state traffic safety grant.