CHENANGO COUNTY – Faced with a staffing shortage and a diminishing list of eligible applicants, the Chenango County Sheriff is pitching an idea to change residency requirements for correction officers employed at the county jail.

Since correction officers are public officers, they’re required under state law to reside in New York to accept and continue employment. For decades, many counties and municipalities, including Chenango County, have also included residency requirements that mandate officers to live in the communities they serve; however, many communities are becoming less stringent, allowing sworn officers to live outside their boundaries.

Chenango Sheriff Ernest Cutting says it may be time for Chenango County to follow suit.

“Because our pool of candidates is shrinking locally, I think it may be time to look at closing the residency requirement and offer people who live in other counties the opportunity to work here without relocating to the county,” said Cutting.

The Sheriff’s Office is currently down three full-time positions and 10 part-time, which is affecting the department’s overtime budget. The biggest area of concern, according to Cutting? The jail’s corrections division, which struggles to maintain correction officers.