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Seeley says corrections jobs are secure despite jail closure

May 09, 2018 7:00 am

Daniel Zuckerman and Carly Miller are reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Greene County Sheriff Greg Seeley continues to assert that none of the 27 corrections officers who worked at the county jail on Bridge Street in Catskill will be laid off as a result of the decision to close the facility last month. The 110-year-old building was shuttered for safety reasons April 20, and the 21 people housed at the facility were transferred to the Columbia and Ulster County jails. County corrections officers continue to transport people to and from the jail where they are housed and to court appearances, Seeley said. “They’ve got to do everything they normally do,” Seeley said. “They’re not getting laid off.” Seeley said the number people incarcerated by the county has increased since the jail closed. Corrections officers will be needed for the transition team if a new jail is built, he said. This process is expected to take two years. “I’m not laying off anybody, they [county legislators] can lay them off,” Seeley said. “They’ve let it get this way.” “We’re continuing to debate and gather price estimates,” Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden said of repairing the closed jail. Once county officials decide what they’re going to do with the Catskill facility, corrections officers’ future roles will need to be determined, he said. “We’re not going to have the information overnight,” Groden said. “We’ll try to have some answers.” Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.