Due to a staffing shortage, the Seneca County Sheriff’s Department has been forced to close two of the three housing units at the County Jail.
Shortage of officers forces closure of units
The Finger Lakes Times quotes Undersheriff John Cleere in the department’s June monthly report as saying the department is currently down 15 officers from its full staffing level of 54. He says there are also not enough female officers to staff the female housing unit. Seneca County is sending female inmates to the Yates County jail. Federal inmates being housed in Seneca County have been returned to federal facilities.
As of the most recent count, Seneca County is housing 27 inmates, with eight boarded out to other jails.
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When will the female housing unit reopen?
Cleere says once a contract agreement is reached with the guards’ union, the department will aggressively recruit new guards. He says the first step is to hire enough female officers to reopen the female housing unit.
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