Sullivan Commissioners Approve Funds For Ten Additional Correctional Officers

With their backs against the wall, Sullivan County Commissioners on Thursday night approved a resolution that will fund the hiring of ten additional correctional officers to handle an early release program designed to reduce a severe and dangerously over crowded jail. That move could also tack on two cents to the local property tax rate. Sullivan County Sheriff Jeff Cassidy says the recurring cost to fund the additional officers is just over 564 thousand dollars a year. But Cassidy says the county could actually save money by eliminating the daily cost of housing those prisoners who would be released early under the supervision of the new officers.