Six New York state correctional facilities will close next March in a cost-cutting move by the governor as the inmate population declines, that’s according to a report by the Associated Press. The state Department of Corrections says inmates will be sent to other locations, there won’t be any layoffs, and the state will save $142 million. Rockland County Sheriff Lou Falco says the other prisons are now left in the system and local municipalities are left with an unfunded mandate…
The governor was authorized by the Legislature this year to close state prisons amid a long-term drop in inmates. The AP reports there are 31,469 inmates in state correctional facilities, down from a system-wide high of 72,773 in 1999.