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Dutchess County's current jail is on North Hamilton Street in the city of Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Justice & Transition Center to be smaller, less expensive
Dutchess County's new Justice & Transition Center to be smaller, less expensive
Mid-Hudson News Network and Freeman staff
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — With state bail reforms that take effect next year expected to lower county jail populations, Dutchess County plans to reduce the size of its new Justice & Transition Center.
County Executive Marc Molinaro said in a prepared statement that the state has given Dutchess permission to push back final design plan approval for the facility until the end of this year.
The county will "consider a redesign that will significantly reduce the size and cost of the facility," the statement from Molinaro's office said.
The executive estimated the construction cost will fall by as much as $8 million, and operation costs will drop by at least $2.5 million per year.
The design approval originally was to be in place this month, construction was to start this fall, and the new facility was to be completed by December 2023.
Molinaro cited the county's own efforts to reduce the inmate population, in addition to the bail reforms, as a reason the new facility in Poughkeepsie can be smaller, probably by 100 beds from the originally planned 569.
Under the New York bail reforms that go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, individuals charged with misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies will no longer be sent to jail to await trial in most cases.
The majority of people currently in the Dutchess County Jail are awaiting trial, Molinaro's office said.
The new Justice & Transition Center will replace a county jail that has lacked sufficient space for decades. Thar lack of space has forced Dutchess to spend millions of dollars to house its excess inmates in other counties' jails across the state.
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Dutchess County, New York
Marc Molinaro
Justice & Transition Center
Dutchess County Jail
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