Sheriff Mark E. Helms is happy to announce that on June 17,
2019, State Commission of Corrections staff members Robert Cuttita and Elisha
Hamilton toured the Cortland County Jail to assess the status of various
repairs to or replacement of equipment/system damaged or destroyed as a result
of the January 2019 roof water leakage. During this visit, Commission staff
verified that all elements outlined in the Commission’s May 22, 2019,
correspondence have been satisfactorily addressed.
The Maximum Facility Capacity for the Cortland County Jail
is now 89 beds. This is down from the previous capacity of 93 beds. “The
Commission of Correction has reviewed the county’s application for a variance
with respect to compliance with the provisions of 9NYCRR, section 7040.3, and
has determined at its May 21, 2019, meeting that the request be DENIED.”
On June 18, 2019, Correction staff began the process of
returning inmates to Cortland County. Unfortunately, there are more inmates
than we have beds so some inmates will still need to be boarded out at this
time.
Sheriff Helms wants to thank everyone involved for their
patience, assistance, and hard work.
Having all the inmates housed outside of Cortland County posed several
challenges to my staff. I am extremely
proud of how my officers conducted themselves during this time of change. They did everything needed with expertise in
a situation that none of them had ever dealt with before. It was a hard test, but everyone did a great
job.
Over the past few months, Cortland inmates were boarded in
five different counties. Sheriff Helms is grateful to Sheriff David E. Harder
Broome County, Sheriff Brian Schenk Cayuga County, Sheriff Robert M. Maciol
Oneida County, Sheriff Gary W. Howard Tioga County and Sheriff Derek R. Osborne
Tompkins County for their willingness to house our inmates and assist us over
the last several months.
Sheriff Helms and his staff look forward to getting back to
a somewhat normal routine. Although the much-needed
repairs are appreciated and will help us to make sure we’re able to continue
doing the day to day operations. Sheriff
Helms reminds everyone that unfortunately the repairs didn’t do anything to
assist with the overall size of the jail or the shortage of space including our
overall population.
