Could Greene County avoid building its new jail? Maybe! The governor’s #nybudget would remove a county jail mandate in state law. pic.twitter.com/5Dk3IYWeSt

— David Lombardo (@poozer87) January 21, 2020

In Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed budget announced Jan. 21 in Albany is a line to "Authorize Shared County Jails." The paragraph included with that line in the budget proposal would allow counties to share jails or jail services. Last year, Greene County officials and state officials both seemed confused about whether Greene County could share a jail with a neighboring county, with jail populations crashing and the Catskill jail crumbling and unusable. Instead of spending less money and sharing a jail with Columbia County, Greene County officials took out a $39-million bond and spent another $8.1 million of taxpayer money to build a new jail in Coxsackie. The 80-cell, 64-bed jail is currently being built and expected to go into use in the summer of 2021.