Raga Justin reports for the Times Union that New York may close up to five correctional facilities soon in a cost-cutting measure. Great Meadow Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in Washington County that can hold up to 1,611 inmates, is being considered for closure. In her budget proposal, Gov. Kathy Hochul says that leaders of the state Senate and Assembly must be notified at least 90 days before any planned prison closures. State lawmakers must also be told how many inmates and staff are in each facility that will be shuttered. The state’s prison population has been declining for years, down to 48,000 people in New York’s state and local correctional facilities, according to a report from the advocacy research center Prison Policy Initiative. Six prisons were closed in 2022, including the maximum security Downstate Correctional Facility in Dutchess County. That saved taxpayers $142 million. State Sen. Jake Ashby, a Rensselaer County Republican whose district also includes portions of Washington County, said, “Forcing convicts into fewer and fewer facilities without investing in needed staffing has made our state prisons more violent and dangerous for inmates and the dedicated correction officers on the front lines of public safety.... That’s the legacy of the (former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo) administration’s totally misguided closures. It’s one I’m urging Gov. Hochul to reverse.” Read more about this story in the Times Union.