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Bergen County officials say they’ll receive a minimum $18.9 million the first year and somewhere in the neighborhood of $195.5 million over the course of the 10-year deal.
Their counterparts in Passaic County say they won’t have to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on a new jail to replace the decrepit 164-year-old lockup on Marshall Street, which has remained half empty for some time now.
Instead, they said, they’ll have access to a modern facility that also has recently operated at less than 50% capacity.
No jobs will be lost in Passaic County, they promised.
Rather, Passaic County Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik said he’ll be able to reassign staff to “to put more police resources on to the streets” in an effort to “better serve all [our] communities.”
Roughly 200 inmates already have been transferred to the lockup in Hackensack over the past month to “alleviate additional strains brought on by COVID-19” at the county jail in Paterson, officials said.
The regionalization deal was made as bail reform continues to reduce the number of inmates in New Jersey jails.
The way the agreement works:
- Bergen County gets $104 per day for each inmate housed at its jail the first two years;
- The rate increases over the course of the contract, which runs through the end of 2031;
- Passaic County will transfer a maximum of 700 inmates to Bergen while guaranteeing a minimum payment supporting 500 at all times -- even if there aren’t that many of their inmates there at any given moment.
Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton said his jail is completely prepared to handle the influx of inmates.
“Benefiting both the taxpayers of Bergen and Passaic counties, this shared service agreement provides adequate housing and court access in proximity to Passaic County while maintaining care and custody in Bergen County’s accredited corrections facility,” Cureton said.
Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco said the move exemplifies the “aggressive pursuit of innovative opportunities to share services, reduce duplication and save money” during his administration.
Tedesco also said it also expands “our strong partnership with Passaic County” while “benefiting taxpayers in both regions.”
Passaic County Commissioner Theodore “TJ” Best said the deal “makes sense for our taxpayers, corrections employees, inmates and the communities served.”
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BAIL REFORM STRIKES AGAIN: A 20-year-old Teaneck man who'd already been arrested and released twice in the past three months crashed a stolen car into a tree in Ridgewood after fleeing a Paramus police stop on Route 17, authorities said. READ MORE....
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