OSWEGO -- The Oswego County Sheriff's Department wants taxpayers to dig deeper into their pockets so they can house inmates at outside facilities.
Undersheriff Gene Sullivan tells CNYcentral's Jim Kenyon that the jail has been operating at maximum capacity since last year.
The Oswego County Justice Center opened in 1993. Iit was built to house 159 jail inmates.
Sullivan says currently the county is forced to house 27 additional inmates at facilities in neighboring counties.
The current budget for housing inmates at those facilities is $100,000. But, the sheriff's department is requesting that the legislature increase that amount by $600,000.
Undersheriff Sullivan says the increase in inmates is due to a number of factors, including better police enforcement, the effect of the economy on the crime rate, and increased enforcement against parole violators.
