New dormitory for jail eyed

BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. » The Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office plans to create a new 20-bed dormitory from under-utilized space at the county jail.

The current inmate population is 169 — 150 men, 19 women — well below the 205 threshold needed for doublebunking, which sometimes occurs in summer.

But extra space is required in case a state-approved variance for doublebunking isn’t renewed at some point, jail administrator Col. Richard Emery said.

“We have to be ready,” he said. “It’s one of the oldest variances in the state.”

Emery unveiled plans to the county Board of Supervisors Public Safety Committee on Tuesday. The Sheriff’s Office has budgeted $60,000, plus $13,000 for building materials, for the renovation project. If approved, most work would be done in-house by county employees.

Plans must be approved by the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision before work can begin, hopefully this summer, Emery said.

Exact costs have not been determined yet, and Board of Supervisors approval would only be required if the project exceeds money available in the adopted 2018 budget, county Administrator Spencer Hellwig said.

“But I think it’s fair to assume that a project of this size, if needed, is likely to require board approval,” he said.

In 2016, a similar project for 12 new beds was undertaken at the jail.

Dormitory-style beds are used for low-level offenders instead of cells, which cost $100,000 each to construct.

A Rochester firm recently completed a $40,000 study for the Sheriff’s Office that evaluates all aspects of the county jail, including inmate housing trends and needs. There are no plans for a new jail, but the Corrections department has urged the county to do longterm planning.

The report was the first step in that process.

With waivers, the jail can hold up to 255 prisoners. Even when double-bunking is required, the population seldom, if ever, exceeds 210, Emery said.