More Prison Closures Could Be On The Horizon

If Governor Kathy Hochul gets her way, the state will expedite the closure of up to five prisons this coming year.  Her proposal comes on the heels of more than a decade of prison closures with 24 facilities throughout the state closing since 2011 amid steadily decreasing inmate numbers. The Hudson Valley and Catskills regions have been impacted by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) facility closures, with the area hosting several of the state’s remaining 44 prison facilities.  

In 2011, then-Governor Andrew Cuomo closed Warwick’s Mid-Orange Correctional Facility, in 2013, closed the Beacon Correctional Facility, and in 2022, shuttered Fishkill’s Downstate Correctional Facility.  To date, none of Sullivan County’s prisons have made the final closure list. Governor Hochul has cited staffing shortages among DOCCS workers and a steadily decreasing prisoner population as justification for the continued closures.  Union officials representing DOCCS workers say with prison violence on the rise closing facilities will only exacerbate the problem. According to DOCCS data, in 2023 there were 1,671 assaults on staff and 2,170 inmate-on-inmate assaults, an all-time high.  

With violence on the rise, union officials say keeping prisons open is necessary to prevent overcrowding and ensure safety in prison facilities. According to the Correctional Association of New York, an organization that by law is designated to provide independent monitoring and oversight of state prisons in the state, the closure request is justified.  The group cited staffing shortages, pointing out in a recent report that in one nearby prison, Sullivan Correctional Facility, approximately half of the prison’s medical service positions were open. 

The Correctional Association of New York also recommended that as the governor and legislature consider facility closures, consideration be paid to keeping facilities open that are close to population centers so that incarcerated individuals can serve their sentences closer to home.  In the region, several facilities could be targeted for closure including medium-security facilities in Fishkill, Otisville, Ulster, Wallkill, and Woodbourne and maximum-security facilities including Eastern, Shawangunk, and Sullivan.  According to the state, any workers impacted by closures would be relocated to other facilities. Any final decision on closures would be adopted in the state budget, which is anticipated to pass no later than April 1st.