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Seeley closes Greene County Jail
Amanda Purcell is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Greene County Jail has been temporarily closed due to structural concerns, according to the Greene County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff Greg Seeley said he and three unidentified county legislators made the decision after consulting with a structural engineering firm. No further details were available about that process and Seeley did not name the lawmakers involved. Repeated calls and attempts by Purcell to contact legislators went unanswered, and the Greene County Administrator's office directed all press inquiries to the sheriff's office. The decision was made as a precaution to keep staff and inmates safe, according to Seeley's statement. “Basically, the infrastructure of this building is falling down around us,” the sheriff said April 20. Those incarcerated at the facility were scheduled for transfer to nearby counties later that same day, Seeley said. Thirty people will go to Columbia and 20 individuals will be sent to Ulster. Specific areas of the jail building will remain open for booking purposes, Seeley said. The sheriff's road patrol will continue operations out of the building and all 36 corrections officers will remain on the job during the closure. “I will not lay off any COs. I will find something for them to do,” Seeley said. The county jail, located on Bridge Street in Catskill, was designated one of the worst in the state in a report released Feb. 14. “I would like to see this place made into a parking lot and for a new correctional facility to be built in Coxsackie...,” Seeley said. “I hope the legislators will get together to get things moving. This should have been done 25 years ago.” Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.