Two maximum security prisons in New York will close.
Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Washington County and Sullivan Correctional Facility in Sullivan County will close by November. The decision comes as part of Governor Kathy Hochul’s plan to close up to five prisons during the fiscal year.
According to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, the number of incarcerated individuals at its facilities is 33,419, representing a more than 54% population decline since 1999 when the number of incarcerated was 72,773.
Great Meadow currently has an incarcerated population of 480 and Sullivan a population of 426. These individuals will now need to be moved to other prisons in the state.
NYSCOPBA, the union representing corrections officers, is decrying the announcement, claiming the move will increase violence at the remaining facilities while putting officers and their families through additional hardships.
“For years, we have demanded that DOCCS and the State of New York take decisive action to increase staffing in our prison system,” stated NYSCOPBA President Summers. “The goal was always straightforward: recruit more qualified candidates and retain officers to stabilize staffing. For the past decade we have seen round after round of prison closures that have failed to fix the long-term problem. Our members work tirelessly to provide an increasingly program-focused prison environment for incarcerated individuals as a result of the disastrous HALT Act. Additional programs require more staff, but recruitment of new officers has lagged significantly and officers eligible to retire are walking out the door in droves as a result of dangerous working conditions and mandated overtime. As a result of staffing shortages and mandatory overtime, members spend more time working in the prison then they do with their families and their quality of life suffers as a result.”
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