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OVERVIEW
Erie County has contracted with consultants Foit-Albert Associates and DLR Group to provide a Comprehensive Facility and Operational Needs Assessment for the Erie County Holding Center and Erie County Correctional Facility.
This study is the first step in determining the future of the County’s detention system facilities. It will assess existing and future programming and building space needs, and guide the County’s decision-making toward an ideal facility and programming that:
- Meets modern best practices;
- Complies with New York State Commission of Correction standards;
- Promotes a safe and productive work environment for employees;
- Creates a safe environment for incarcerated individuals and provides access to effective resources and services focused on: mental health, substance abuse and addiction recovery, and education, job training, and re-entry programs; and
- Makes best use of staffing resources and taxpayer money.
This study will include an analysis of several alternatives, including renovation of either existing facility or construction of a new facility. It will not, however, result in any specific recommendations regarding designs or potential locations of a future facility.
BACKGROUND
The Erie County Sheriff’s Office Jail Management Division operates two facilities, the Erie County Holding Center and the Erie County Correctional Facility.
The Erie County Holding Center (ECHC), located in the City of Buffalo, is a pretrial, maximum-security detention facility. It is the second-largest detention facility in New York State, outside of New York City. The ECHC has a capacity of housing 638 incarcerated individuals, and processes more than 20,000 incarcerated individuals annually. The facility is a combination of pods and open bay construction, and traditional linear-type cells. The facility was constructed in 1938, with an addition completed in 1986.
The Erie County Correctional Facility (ECCF) is located in the Town of Alden. It is capable of housing 746 incarcerated individuals. The facility is a combination of pods and open bay construction. The facility opened in 1985.
The populations housed at the ECHC and ECCF include non-arraigned, non-sentenced, sentenced, and federal incarcerated individuals. Males, females, and adolescents (those adolescents adjudicated as adults) are housed at both adult facilities.
There are significant issues with both facilities related to safety, cost, maintenance, and lack of suitability for carrying out programming. Both facilities are in need of substantial renovations to improve functionality to the point of being compatible with modern best practices for incarceration.
While they were opened nearly 50 years apart, both facilities have inefficient and outdated layouts with poor sightlines that present significant safety concerns for both personnel and incarcerated individuals, and require significantly higher staffing levels than should be necessary. Both facilities have significant ongoing building maintenance needs related to security, HVAC, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing work, and insufficient utilities. Outdated housing units and lack of space for programming do not meet modern needs. Contemporary incarceration facilities have the space and programming to focus on reducing recidivism among incarcerated individuals through education and training, mental health services, substance abuse counseling, and related support services.
Recent NYS Legislation has reduced the population of incarcerated individuals in general and in both facilities that are being studied. Both facilities generally operate well below their historical population amounts, leading to a number of inefficiencies associated with operating a larger than needed facility.
On top of the above-listed issues, the ECCF is located in the rural Town of Alden. This location is an inconvenient distance (about 30 minutes by vehicle) from medical facilities, legal services including the court system, and the Sheriff’s Department offices, all of which leads to substantial transportation costs. The location also lacks any public transportation options and is often difficult to access for family members of incarcerated individuals.
With both facilities requiring substantial capital improvements, the County sought to study the options available. The County issued a Request for Proposals in July 2023 seeking proposals from qualified consulting firms with knowledge, skills, and experience in pre-architectural jail planning, engineering and related services to provide a comprehensive facility and operational analysis and needs assessment for the two facilities. The Foit Albert/DLR Group team was selected to complete this study, which is now underway.
