SOUTHPORT, NY (WENY) - The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision plans to shut down the Southport Correctional Facility and 5 other prisons state-wide next year. 

The closing of correction facilities across New York comes in response to saving taxpayer dollars and a declining prison population. The state budget voted on the decision to authorize the closings. 

The closing of the  Southport Correctional Facility affects 283 officers and 19 sergeants by relocating them out of the area. According to DOCCS, no jobs are being lost due to the closures; positions will be transferred to other facilities in the system. Western Region Vice President of the NYSCOPBA Mark DeBurgomaster is frustrated with the local resources leaving the community. He says some officers working at Southport were already transferred there, when their local correctional facility closed in recent years.  

“They're entrenched in almost every facet of everything that happens within this community,” “I could tell you; I don't live that far from here and I'm in this community.” DeBurgomaster said. “And to lose this facility, you're going to have people now, because of the previous closings, that are going to have to go even further on the road.” 

He said there are repercussions of packing inmates and officers into different prisons. 

“The violence is increasing, the inmates are confined to smaller jails and smaller settings instead of being spread out, and the officers are the ones suffering,” DeBurgomaster said. 

Southport has $45 million in state taxes invested into upgrading its facilities. Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R, Corning) feels that with the shutdown, resources will go to waste. 

“Southport has programs in there to help rehabilitate our most dangerous individuals... it’s supposed to be dealing with those special populations.” Palmesano said. “But yet, why would you close down a facility like Southport, who has the best infrastructure in place?” 

Palmesano also said Southport also received $45 million in upgrades over recent years, so it doesn’t make sense for it to close.  

The 5 other facilities set to shut down include Ogdensburg Correctional Facility, Moriah Shock Incarceration Facility, Willard Drug Treatment Campus, Rochester Correctional Facility, and Downstate Correctional Facility. Southport Correctional Facility, as well as the others, are set to close on March 10th, 2022.