Sheriff Jim Quattone said earlier this week that the strike at state corrections facilities had indirectly affected the Chautauqua County Jail. P-J photo by Gregory Bacon

MAYVILLE – A potential resolution in the unauthorized strike will not only benefit state corrections officers, but it will also help the Chautauqua County Jail, as its operations have been impacted as well.

During this week’s county legislature meeting before the resolution was reached, Sheriff Jim Quattrone spoke about the topic and said that the county has been unable to transfer incarcerated individuals who were ready to be moved to state prisons.

“That’s an order that we received that is standing until March 17,” he said at Wednesday’s meeting.

Quattrone said they haven’t been able to get some of the food items they normally receive from the State Department of Corrections. The county jail also has employees who are members of the National Guard. Those individuals have been activated to work in state prisons.

Quattrone called the situation a “travesty” and said it’s “entirely preventable.”

The sheriff noted one of the main topics is the HALT Act, which stands for Human Alternatives to Long Term solitary confinement. The legislation was put in to protect prisoners, something Quattrone said he supports, but it isn’t working.

Quattrone noted that since the HALT Act was put in place, inmate-on-inmate violence has gone up over 100% and inmate-on-staff violence has increased by 75%.

Another issue is the forced overtime, where some correction officers have worked 16, 24 and even 32 hour shifts.

“Anytime somebody is forced to stay awake that long, it’s a danger, not just for COs, but for the inmates,” Quattrone said.

Quattrone said there had been talks about the state seeking to transfer incarcerated individuals in state prisons to county jails, but that was something he opposed.

“My stance is we will not be accepting state inmates to the Chautauqua County Jail for multiple reasons. The biggest reason is I’m afraid if we do that, that will encourage the state to do nothing and let this continue,” he said.

After Quattrone spoke, County Executive PJ Wendel asked the county legislature to go on record and ask Gov. Kathy Hochul to come to the table and remedy the situation.

“I’m asking this body to pen a letter and a motion. I’m sure it will be pontificated that motions don’t do much, but I disagree,” he said.

Wendel visited the Lakeview Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility earlier in the day. He said the facility is supposed to have 308 corrections officers, but said the state wants to reduce that total to 211.

“Mind you, they are not reducing the inmate population of incarcerated individuals,” he added.

Legislator Bob Bankoski, D-Dunkirk, worked as a corrections officer for 26 years and was a member of the National Guard. He said National Guard members aren’t trained to be corrections officers.

“These people are men and women that are mechanics, truck drivers, communications specialists, carpenters, pilots and nurses. I myself was a combat engineer. I built bridges and roads,” Bankoski said.

Bankoski noted that when he became a corrections officer, he went through specialized training before he went into a prison.

“We have 6,500 National Guardsmen who are just pulled off the street and have no expertise,” he said.

Bankoski noted this strike is not about money. He said the corrections officers are well paid, but they have no social life.

“They live at the jail. They don’t see their family. They don’t go to their kids’ concerts or ball games,” he said.

Bankoski said Wednesday that he supported passing a motion calling on Hochul to resolve the situation.

Legislator Fred Larson, D-Jamestown, who is a retired judge, expressed his concern that the strike was illegal because it violated the Taylor Law, which applies to public employees in the state.

“Walking off the job is an illegal strike and that should not be overlooked, no matter how sympathetic it might be to the working conditions across New York state,” he said.

No motions were introduced at Wednesday night’s meeting.