Broome County has a timetable in place for the much-anticipated expansion of the county’s jail. Construction is scheduled to begin in February of 2016, assuming drawings of the plans are approved by the New York State Commission of Corrections. According to county officials, overcrowding at the jail was costing the county a significant amount of money, with hundreds of thousands spent to board out inmates to other facilities. The plan moving forward is to expand the jail so that Broome County can begin boarding in other inmates itself, which will in turn create more revenue for the county. The expansion project also looks to fix the jail’s medical unit, with the Commission of Corrections pushing for the county to separate its male and female medical units. Bids for the construction of the project are expected to go out in November of next year, with a bid being accepted in December of next year.
