Nancy Kern reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Greene County, despite recently building a new jail, is spending money sending female inmates to other county jails. The county's 2023 county budget has allocated $100,000 to pay other counties to house female inmates, while the women’s pod at the new jail is empty. Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden says a shortage of corrections officers that, he says, is caused by stringent requirements, is why the county is sending local taxpayer money to other counties. The story says, "In 2021 the county paid $70 to $75 per day for each inmate boarding at a separate facility," but does not say how long Greene County has been sending female inmates to other facilities. Groden argues that Greene County is just sending the money to other counties that they would be spending themselves here. Groden said, “The county’s boarding expenditures are no greater than the amount it would need to pay to keep the women’s pod open.... The County will not see a budget deficit." Taxpayers are paying back the $39 million bond Greene County took to pay for the new jail that they are now partially not using. Groden said the new jail averages 40 inmates a month, but needs at least four more corrections officers to be fully operational. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.