Suffolk jail might not open for months after completion

Suffolk's new $180-million jail in Yaphank is supposed to be finished in December 2011, but county sheriff aides said Friday the new complex will remain empty for three to six months for a "shakedown" period for training and testing.

Lt. Dennis Carman, commander of the jail transition team, said the earliest the first inmates could move in to the jail is March 2012. He added that could only happen if contractors allow sheriff's officials access to some completed jail pods early, access that contractors have not yet agreed upon.

If there is no agreement, Carman said, the first prisoners may not move in until June because the sheriff's office needs six months to test new security systems, train corrections officers on how those systems work and make sure there is no construction material left that could be used as weapons.

"Things are fluid right now," said Michael Sharkey, the sheriff's chief of staff. "But our goal is to get in there as quickly as possible."

Later, Louis Calderone, deputy public works commissioner speaking at the Judicial Facilities Authority, said he expects the sheriff's office will get access to portions of the jail in October or November 2011. He told the authority board the jail is 55 percent complete and construction is on schedule.

The disclosure about the delayed opening comes after a controversy earlier this year when the state correction commission threatened to let variances expire that would allow the county to house 511 prisoners over capacity, if the county did not hire enough new correction officers to staff the new jail.

County Executive Steve Levy's proposed $2.7-billion budget, filed in September, called for hiring 90 new correction officers, 60 fewer than called for by the state commission. But the commission extended the variances after Levy budgeted for the bulk of the staff needed. Sheriff aides now say they will press for another class of correction officers in early 2012 so they will be fully staffed to open the jail after the shakedown period.

Sharkey said he is unsure how long it would take for the jail to become fully operational once prisoners start moving in. He said that will be decided by the state correction commission in consultation with the sheriff's office.

Sharkey also said the sheriff's office hopes the state will allow the county to continue some of its variances so that Suffolk will no longer have to send some of their prisoners to other jails outside the county. As of last month, the county was housing 60 prisoners outside Suffolk, according to legislative budget analysts.

Levy spokesman Mark Smith said the administration expects no significant fiscal impact from the shakedown period, saying it's a normal procedure for opening a new jail.

"You have to make sure the locks work."