Inmates would be lodged at the Hudson County jail. The Mercer jail employs 233 corrections officers and 49 civilians. Watch video
TRENTON -- Mercer County plans to house the bulk of its county jail inmates in Hudson County starting in the next few months and initiate layoffs of officers and other employees at the correction center in Hopewell Township.
Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes is scheduled to deliver the plan to the county freeholders board tonight as part of his budget address. He spoke to NJ Advance Media exclusively before the address.
"There will be a layoff plan," Hughes said. "And it's going to be upsetting and worrisome to a lot of people,' the county executive conceded.
Hughes said he hopes many of the corrections officer jobs will be reduced by attrition, retirement and officers being rehired by other agencies. Plus, Hughes said, the Hudson County corrections department is amenable to hiring Mercer officers.
Currently, the Mercer jail employs about 233 corrections officers and 49 civilian staffers.
Hughes said plans call for 600 inmates to be lodged in Hudson County and for inmates to be processed at the current jail, the Mercer County Correction Center, and turn the facility into a satellite office.
The jail's population hovers around 700 inmates daily.
A contract with Hudson County still has to be signed, as well as many other details, but Hughes said it is moving forward and will likely happen by spring. He declined to say how much a contract with Hudson County would be.
Hughes has said the jail in Hopewell Township is old, antiquated, hard to repair and building a new prison facility could cost $500 million.
A few weeks ago, Hughes toured the Hudson County Correctional Facility in Kearny and was impressed with every facet of their operation. "Hudson County has an impressive and progressive array of medical programs," he said.
Hughes said earlier this month that he and county officials had been looking at Essex and Hudson counties to possibly house Mercer inmates.
The Hudson operation, he said, meets all of Mercer's space needs and then some.
While Hughes said relocating inmates has a financial component and would save money, his main point is that Hudson can do more inmates while they are locked up.
"It's about providing services to our clientele," Hughes said. "We need to do a better job with offender reentering society."
He said 60 percent of Mercer inmates have an addiction or need mental health services. They can be provided on site in Hudson.
The Hudson jail also has on on-site kidney dialysis machine, Hughes said.
When a Mercer prisoner needs mental health services, "The only thing we can do is segregate them."
Hughes again described the Hopewell jail being turned into a center where inmates are processed in an out of jail, and where police departments would deliver arrestees. Mercer County residents would still go to the Hopewell building to bail people out of the jail.
The Mercer corrections department will continue at the site with about 80 employees, and programs like SLAP, the Superintendent Labor Assistance Program, would continue at the site. (SLAP uses inmates to mow grass, pickup trash and do other maintenance at county facilities.)
Hughes said he's even discussed the jail plan with Mercer County Assignment Judge Mary C. Jacobson. Correction officers will expeditiously move an inmate from Hudson to Mercer for court proceedings, or if a lawyer needs to meet with the inmate.
"We will be driving to Hudson every morning and every evening," Hughes said.
The first proposal could come before the freeholder board Feb. 23, Hughes said.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.