NY Gov. Kathy Hochul Proposes New Prison Reforms in the Face of Staffing Crisis

Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed new prison reforms meant to ease staffing shortages on Tuesday as part of state budget negotiations, while the head of the state Department of Corrections said he wants to release qualifying incarcerated individuals early for the same reason.

Daniel Martuscello, the state commissioner for the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS), also supports Hochul’s plan to close up to five more facilities.

But state Republican lawmakers say closing prisons and releasing individuals early is a dire threat to public safety.

Under Martuscello’s separate directive, less than 700 incarcerated people with nonviolent offenses and no sex offenses would qualify for early release. Those individuals, who could be released up to 110 days earlier, would also have to have no other outstanding warrants and reliable housing upon release.

The various proposals from the governor’s office and DOCCS come as officials are desperately trying to address prison staffing shortages. A three-week long unlawful strike by corrections officers earlier this year led to the termination of 2,000 staff, only exacerbating the issue.

A spokesperson from DOCCS said prisons were already short 2,000 staff before the strikes occurred. There are 10,000 corrections officers and sergeants currently employed by DOCCS.

Hochul’s plan, which she was negotiating Tuesday with top state lawmakers, would lower the minimum age for corrections officers from 21 to 18 years old as a way to recruit more individuals to staff the state’s 42 correctional facilities.

The proposal would also expand the number of programs that would allow incarcerated individuals to earn time off of their sentences by participating in them.

While Martuscello said he could not speak to the age requirement proposal because it’s part of budget negotiations he’s not involved in, he backed the earned time proposal, which Hochul suggested in her preliminary budget earlier this year.

“I’m very supportive of that (proposal),” Martuscello told reporters during a news conference on Wednesday.

Sources say the proposal, however, would not allow currently eligible people to be released sooner than current law allows, which is up to a one-sixth reduction of their minimum sentence.

Hochul’s office declined to comment on the ongoing negotiations.

State Republican lawmakers decried the various proposals from Hochul and Martuscello, saying they were improper ways to alleviate a crisis that they created.

“The release of inmates … before their sentenced time is complete — that is never the solution,” said Assemblymember Michael Tannousis, R-Staten Island. “Putting the public at risk because the state is incompetent is never the proper solution to a problem.”

Tannousis and other Republican lawmakers said the best short-term solution is to hire back the corrections officers the state fired.

“(Hochul) fired 2,000 corrections officers because they raised the issues that they were concerned with, and that was safety,” he said. “You have to put those corrections officers back to work, and then, finally, have a conversation as to how we’re going to better the environment in the facilities.”

But Jennifer Scaife, who is the executive director of the Correctional Association of New York, said releasing incarcerated individuals early could ease responsibilities for corrections officers.

“Having fewer people overall in the system, I think, will help,” Scaife said.

Story by Jeongyoon Han/ New York Public Radio
Jeongyoon Han is a Capitol News Bureau reporter for the New York Public News Network, producing multimedia stories on issues of statewide interest and producing multimedia stories on issues of statewide interest and importance.

Image: Woodbourne Correctional Facility in Woodbourne, NY.