Are South Jersey inmates being shipped to Hudson County?

BRIDGETON – A recent memo to staff at the Cumberland County Jail went too far with a statement that a “long-term” inmate transfer agreement will be reached with the Hudson County Correctional Center, county officials say.

Officials say Warden Eugene Caldwell III “misspoke” and the statement was “premature.” The county is interested in extending an existing but relatively limited transfer agreement with Hudson, however.

Caldwell included the “long-term agreement” claim in a July 1 memo that otherwise dealt almost entirely with ongoing staffing issues. In it, he asks officers for their continued cooperation to help him resist pressure to mandate they work additional shifts.

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His reference to an agreement with Hudson County was brief: “A long-term agreement will be finalized and Hudson has committed to take all of our inmates as we will utilize our facility as a processing center, court hold and a transportation department.”

County Commissioner Director Darlene Barber said Tuesday that the warden got that part wrong.

“Hudson County is not being considered as a permanent, long-term solution for inmates/detainees,” Barber said. “Neither the Democratic, or Republican, commissioners have expressed an interest in making Hudson a long-term solution.”

Republican Commissioner Douglas Albrecht said a permanent arrangement with Hudson County is impractical due to the logistics of transporting inmates to Kearny. But he stressed Republicans do not have the votes to enforce that position, if the Democratic majority feels differently.

“We have not made a decision,” Albrecht said. “They may have.”

Albrecht wants to continue talks with state government about adapting part of the Southern State Correctional Facility for use as a replacement jail.

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Republican Commissioner Joseph Sileo also was unhappy with the warden’s comment.

“He’s going to get a little bit of a directive from myself to cease and desist in any information that comes to the Hudson County jail,” Sileo said. “Because we’re not making any long-term decision. Not at this point.”

Hudson County currently does hold some Cumberland prisoners under an agreement that is effective until May 2023. That relationship was begun in order to place inmates into a Hudson County drug rehabilitation program. The first inmates left in December 2021 with more following this year.

Cumberland County Administrator Jody Hirata said there are discussions to extend that agreement “until we make a decision on a permanent jail solution.”  The county is looking at four possible permanent solutions but has no deadline to pick one, she said.

“The permanent jail solution will determine the length of time needed for the housing contract and all options will be considered,” Hirata said.

County commissioners have agonized in the last few years over the future of the county Department of Corrections and the rundown, understaffed facility it operates on Broad Street. The jail is next to the county courthouse.

The county was on the way to building a new jail in the vicinity of Burlington and Buckshutem roads, when commissioners halted the project. The county is involved in litigation over the cancellation, which officially was announced in July 2020.

Commissioners shifted to an idea to downsize the corrections department and to cease operating a traditional jail. Instead, the county would open a facility that would hold prisoners for processing and for court hearings but not for serving sentences or lengthy pre-trial detentions.

The idea requires an extensive rebuilding of the current jail, or possibly all new construction. Inmates would be shifted out of county during the transition.

Currently, the county says it is considering four ideas for a future corrections department.

• Build a new jail on property already acquired at Burlington Road and Buckshutem Road, with a prisoner holding center and a courtroom at the existing jail site on Broad Street.

• Demolish the existing jail and, in its footprint, build a replacement jail as well as a courtroom.

• Take over a portion of Southern State Correctional Facility. That would require some demolition and construction.

• Finally, Camden County is doing a study on forming a “joint entity to construct a correctional facility that would house detainees from multiple counties from South and Central Jersey.” Cumberland is waiting for more information, Hirata said.

This article originally appeared on Vineland Daily Journal: Are South Jersey inmates being taken to Hudson County?