Associated Press
MADISON COUNTY — Drug arrests and mental health cases are sapping the budget of a central New York jail.
An influx of inmates put the Madison County jail at maximum capacity and drained its annual budget for medical and personal care expenses by June. That forced officials to put an extra $173,000 into the budget last month to cover costs.
Madison County Sheriff Allen Riley tells the Oneida Dispatch a spike in heroin and meth lab arrests in early summer are to blame.
The jail’s typical inmate population is about 90 to 100 prisoners with a maximum capacity of 120. An influx of 145 inmates at one point this summer required the jail to send inmates to other facilities.
That also cost the county money in missed revenue from potential federal prisoners.