Daniel Zuckerman is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Greene County lawmakers discussed a proposed jail concept at the county legislature's Public Safety Committee meeting January 8. Legislature majority leader and Public Safety Committee chair William Lawrence, Republican of Cairo, said under this plan anyone arrested in Greene County would be processed and detained at the Columbia County Jail in Greenport. Those individuals would then be transported back to Greene County for court dates and sentencing by Greene County corrections officers. The Columbia County Jail has an 80 percent occupancy rate, or 108 beds, and an extension would need to be added to accommodate people from Greene County, Lawrence said. Feasibility and geotechnical studies at a cost of between $150,000 to $250,000 split between the two counties is needed before an addition can be designed. That geotechnical study would investigate the physical properties of soil and rock which is crucial because the area around the Columbia County Jail is subject to landslides. The final design of the facility requires approval by the state Commission of Corrections and the state Legislature would have to allow the two counties to share a jail, Lawrence said. Costs to construct a shared jail would be evenly split between the two counties and Greene County would pay costs to board out its inmates, Lawrence said. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.