Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck delivered a stark warning to lawmakers this week, saying the county jail’s staffing crisis has reached a critical point and could soon force the county to house inmates elsewhere if vacancies continue to grow.
Speaking during Wednesday’s Judicial and Public Safety Committee meeting, Schenck said the jail is currently down 14 custody officers, with two more senior female officers preparing to retire. That will leave 16 vacant positions out of 96 budgeted jobs, even as three recruits are expected to graduate from the academy next week. Four additional officers remain out on long-term injury or illness leave.
Schenck said female staffing has become an especially urgent concern because state regulations require female officers to be on duty whenever female inmates are housed at the jail. With two veteran female deputies retiring, the sheriff said the county is developing contingency plans that could include boarding female inmates in other counties.
While that option could relieve some immediate staffing pressure, Schenck cautioned it would create new costs and operational challenges. The sheriff’s office would still be responsible for transporting inmates to court appearances, medical appointments and other proceedings, while also paying housing costs to outside facilities.
The sheriff also renewed his call for county leaders to prioritize labor negotiations with the union representing jail custody officers. Schenck noted the contract expired at the end of 2025 and said he first warned lawmakers a year ago that retirements, burnout and recruitment difficulties would create serious staffing problems if action wasn’t taken. Since then, he said, the jail has lost 12 employees to retirement alone.
“I think we’re not treating this with the priority that it needs to be treated with,” Schenck told legislators, adding that custody officers are routinely working overtime, being mandated to stay on shifts and sacrificing time with their families. He urged county officials to accelerate negotiations and explore ways to retain experienced staff while improving recruitment efforts.
Beyond the jail, Schenck and lawmakers approved several public safety measures, including accepting grant funding for domestic violence intervention efforts through the county’s STRIVE partnership, modifying a threat assessment software agreement for local schools, and authorizing funding transfers to cover rising overtime costs at the jail. The committee also approved filling a vacant deputy sheriff sergeant position and continued support for peer services provided to incarcerated individuals through Nick’s Ride 4 Friends.
Other public safety updates presented during the meeting included progress at Cayuga County’s 911 Center, where officials are working to fill dispatcher vacancies. Emergency Services Director Riley Smith also announced that the county has received preliminary approval for up to $3 million through Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s office to support the design and development of a future emergency operations center. Smith reported that his office recently received more than $110,000 in additional homeland security and emergency management grant funding and has been monitoring elevated Lake Ontario water levels in Fair Haven.
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