Inside new Schoharie County Jail rebuilt after Irene’s floods
The old Schoharie County Jail on Depot Lane in Schoharie was destroyed by Hurricane Irene 10 years ago. It took nearly nine years to get the new facility up and running, and NewsChannel 13 is the first station to take you inside.
The new jail has three pods that can house nearly 70 inmates in total. There are currently 13 inmates there.
The kitchen is also being used by Meals on Wheels, making 250 meals each day to transport to seniors across the county.
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Sheriff Ronald Stevens was undersheriff when it was destroyed.
"We lost everything with the flood," he recalled.
He gave the order to set off the dam failure warning system as Irene hit.
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The new location set in a picturesque spot in Howes Cave is out of the flood plain. However, it took years to decide to build it there.
Between August 2011 when the old jail flooded and September 2020 when the new jail finally opened, corrections officers logged 426,000 miles transporting inmates to and from Albany County for boarding, court appearances and medical transports.
Learn about why it took so long to build the new jail, and take a look inside by watching the video of Subrina Dhammi’s story.