A Brooklyn lawmaker will try again next year with legislation that limits who can be transferred into the state prison system.

State Sen. Julia Salazar, D-Brooklyn, introduced legislation (S.7795) shortly before the 2024 legislative session began to repeal a section of the state Corrections Law to eliminate the transfer of inmates from local jails to state prisons. The bill did not move from committee before the legislative session ended in June. But, if it gains the favor of Democrats in the state Legislature, the bill could affect county jails like Chautauqua and Cattaraugus county facilities.

County and local jails typically hold those who are pretrial detainees, individuals sentenced to local jail sentences, people who have been convicted and are awaiting sentencing and individuals who have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment in a state prison but are still waiting to be transferred.

State statistics show there were at least 58 substitute jail orders in 2023 that designated an incarcerated person to a state facility from a county jail. All of the orders cite either mental health, behavior or medical concerns as the reasoning for the transfers, according to Salazar.

“This means that there were 58 individuals who would not otherwise be held in custody in a state prison who, nonetheless, were sent to be held in a state prison. While a county jail may not be equipped to meet the needs of all individuals and a transfer might be necessary, NYSDOCCS facilities are also not equipped to meet the needs of more severe cases considering their high caseloads and significantly low staffing numbers,” Salazar wrote. “Rather than transferring individuals to NYSDOCCS facilities, a practical and effective solution might be to transfer individuals with mental health and medical needs to outside medical facilities where their care can be monitored more closely, to another county jail that is more equipped to work with individuals with specialized needs, or to facilitate their release from custody.”

She cited two particular cases as reasons to limit such transfers. One pretrial detainee transferred from a county jail to a state facility in 2023 despite never having been convicted of an offense. That detainee reported poor treatment and said there was little clarity from either the state or the county where the person was charged as to who was responsible for meeting the individual’s needs. Salazar said the person has a medical condition requiring consistent medication which was reportedly not provided despite multiple requests, leading to the onset of rapid physical and cognitive decline. The person also has a severe mental health condition that was not being met with proper medication and treatment despite advocacy from his family and from Salazar’s office. The person was ultimately released from the state Department of Corrections facility because he was released from the local jail without ever being sentenced to serve time in the state prison system by a judge.

Salazar also cites the 2019 case of Plush Dozier, who was sent to a state facility from a county jail due to the county’s alleged inability to meet Dozier’s mental health needs. As reported in an article in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Dozier has a documented, lengthy history of severe mental illness that, when untreated, can lead to hallucinations, aggression, paranoia and delusions. When Dozier was transferred to the state facility, he was placed in solitary confinement due to the behaviors exhibited by his seemingly untreated mental health condition. Other incarcerated individuals reported that correctional staff severely abused Dozier,whose sister said Dozier was suicidal and feared for his life at the state facility.

“The principle that no one should be held in a state prison unless they have been convicted of an offense that could carry a state prison sentence and have, in fact, been so sentenced, seems so obvious it should not have to be said,” Salazar wrote. “However, existing New York law provides for the transfer of certain individuals – who otherwise would never be held in a state prison – to state prison. This bill eliminates that provision.”