Dutchess County New Justice and Transition Center

The Dutchess County Jail is comprised of two facilities: a 1984 building and a 1995 addition. With a combined capacity of 292 beds, and an ADP of 500 inmates, the facility was chronically overcrowded, resulting in the boarding out of over 200 inmates on any given day. This, coupled with the associated per diem and transport costs, excessive staff overtime, operational inefficiencies, deteriorating conditions at the original jail, and a staff-to-inmate ratio of 1:1.3 – made the current situation unsustainable. The County’s Criminal Justice Council (CJC) conducted a comprehensive Needs Assessment, with an eye toward improving the criminal justice system flow and providing adequate jail capacity and increased operational efficiencies through expansion or on a new site. The CJC recommended a new, modern facility on a new site, but acknowledged that the in-house assessment required further, more technical analysis.

CGL was hired to validate the CJC findings. Our analysis included a comparative evaluation of the existing and proposed sites, including their respective ability to achieve bedspace capacity; security, classification, and programmatic requirements; operational efficiencies; and appropriate staffing ratios. Upon submission of the Project Validation Report, CGL was retained again by Dutchess County to prepare a Project Definition Report. Our services included preparing a building evaluation assessment for five existing buildings on the Justice and Transition Center campus, defining the space program and operational requirements for a Law Enforcement Center and Justice Transition Center, and developing schematic level design drawings based on the needs defined in the Space Program.