CORRECTIONS: The most recent MHANYS Mental Health Update erroneously cited the location of the proposed facility for sexual offenders in Pharsalia as being located in Chemung County. Rather, Camp Pharsalia, which is still operated by the Department of Correctional Services, but has been slated for closure in the Governor’s budget proposals from previous years, is located in Chenango County.

IN THE NEWS: Following are several articles which outline the details of the Governor's new proposal for civil confinement of sexual offenders and include various perspectives on this newly proposed facility, including from people living in/near Pharsalia, NY

$130M to hold rapists, abusers. By Elizabeth Benjamin
Albany Times Union, January 11, 2006

Pataki budget proposal to build new facility to house 500 of the state's worst sexual predators would bring jobs to small town of Pharsalia

ALBANY -- Around noon on Tuesday, Dennis Brown received a surprise phone call with news that could turn out to be a mixed blessing for the tiny central New York town he leads.

The upside: more than 1,000 new jobs that collectively pay $80 million a year -- a meaningful sum in Chenango County where such well-paying work is hard to find.

The drawback: 500 of the state's worst sexual offenders deemed by experts to have a high likelihood of recidivism would be moving into town -- perhaps permanently.

State officials say the offenders would be housed in a new, state-of-the-art secure facility, but the nature of their crimes nevertheless gave Brown pause.

"A thousand jobs is a lot of jobs, but violent sexual predators, you can't define a worse group," said Brown, supervisor of the town of Pharsalia, population 559. "That's the dilemma, what are you willing to accept for what?"

Gov. George Pataki on Tuesday said his 2006-07 budget will include $130 million in new funding to demolish Camp Pharsalia, a minimum-security correctional facility, and replace it with a new secure facility where sexual predators who experts say are too dangerous to be released would be housed indefinitely after completing their prison sentences.

This practice, known as civil commitment, has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. It has been a hot topic in Albany for months, particularly for Republicans, who have tried to portray Democrats as soft on sex offenders.

The Legislature and governor now agree civil commitment is a good idea, but they haven't yet reached a consensus on the best way to go about it.

The Democrat-controlled Assembly and mental health advocates had voiced concern sexual predators would be mixed with the general population at state mental hospitals, putting vulnerable patients at risk.

Pataki's proposal Tuesday sought to address that worry.

Since the new facility -- if accepted as part of Pataki's budget by the Legislature -- would need to be built and staffed, it could not open until 2009, the governor said. So, he will also include $35 million in his budget proposal for the state Office of Mental Health to renovate existing facilities to house sex offenders in the short term.

Another $27 million in new operating funds will be added to the OMH budget to help cover the cost of housing and treating the offenders in 2006-07 once they leave the prison system.

Pataki spokesman Kevin Quinn said the renovation funding is intended to enable OMH to house sexual predators away from the general patient population in existing facilities.

Mental health advocates were lukewarm on Pataki's proposal. Glenn Liebman, executive director of the Mental Health Association in New York State, said his group is "somewhat mollified" by the idea of a new facility reserved solely for sex offenders so patients currently in state hospitals would be safe.

But he also expressed reservations about the drain that housing and treating sexual predators will place on the state mental health system, which advocates say is underfunded and already has a long waiting list for the 3,900 hospital beds reserved for adult patients who aren't in the prison system.

Harvey Rosenthal, executive director of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, said the Pataki administration is only willing to spend money on mental health when public safety is at stake.

"In an environment where we can't put up enough housing for people with psychiatric disabilities and many of their services have not seen an increase in more than a decade, it's mind-boggling as to where these resources come from," Rosenthal said. "On a day-to-day basis, when innocent, nonviolent people are in need, there's no money to be found."

At first blush, a $130 million construction project that brings more than 1,000 well-paying jobs seems like a boon for Chenango County, particularly since state officials have repeatedly threatened to close Camp Pharsalia, which now employs 91 people.

But Brown and other local elected officials said they expect residents will need to be reassured about the safety of the new facility.

Right now, Camp Pharsalia has no fence, Brown said, and there are homes as close as 100 yards away.

State Sen. Thomas Libous, R-Binghamton, whose district includes Pharsalia, said he is trying to remain open-minded about the governor's proposal and is urging his constituents to do the same. He noted the state Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities has run a secure facility for people with developmental disabilities who have committed crimes without incident in Chenango County since 2002.

"I wouldn't want anybody living in Attica (Correctional Facility) living in my neighborhood, but that community seems to be doing well," Libous said. "I have to tell you, the job numbers and the economic impact are pretty impressive. One thousand jobs is not something that comes by every 10 years, or even in a lifetime."

Assemblyman Robert Reilly, D-Colonie, expressed disappointment that Pataki chose Camp Pharsalia over the minimum-security Camp McGregor in Wilton, Saratoga County, for a facility to house sex offenders. Camp McGregor has also been targeted for closure. Reilly suggested McGregor could be one of the sites that is upgraded to temporarily house offenders while the Chenango County facility is under construction.

Pataki has already started keeping sexual predators under lock and key after they have served their prison sentences. Quinn said three dozen sexual predators ordered held by Pataki are in Manhattan's Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center.

Pataki used existing state law to have those offenders held. A Manhattan judge ruled that the offenders were being held illegally and ordered their conditional release. The state appealed, and arguments in the case were heard Tuesday.

Pataki: Replace Pharsalia. By Paul Ertelt
Oneonta Daily Star, January 11, 2006

Chenango prison camp would turn into sex-offender facility

ALBANY — A minimum-security prison camp in Chenango County would become the home of 500 "civilly confined" sex offenders under a plan unveiled Tuesday by Gov. George Pataki.

Under the $130 million proposal, the 258-bed Camp Pharsalia would be demolished and replaced with a secure facility with more than 1,000 employees and an $80 million annual payroll. The facility, to be operated by the state Office of Mental Health, is expected to open by 2009.

The announcement was seen as a sign that the governor is optimistic about the Legislature reaching a deal on legislation that would establish procedures for confining sexual predators who have served their prison sentences and been deemed mentally defective.

The governor has been trying to close the camp and other prison facilities for two years to reflect the decline in the state’s prison population, which has dropped from a peak of nearly 72,000 six years ago to less than 63,000.

Lawmakers from the regions affected have resisted those proposals because of their impact on local economies.

Pharsalia town Supervisor Dennis Brown said the project would bring needed jobs to his town and county, but residents will need assurances that the inmates won’t pose a threat to the community.

"We need that question answered," he said. However, he noted that the 60-bed Valley Ridge Center for Intensive Treatment in Norwich, which houses mentally disabled sex offenders, hasn’t created a public-safety problem.

"The CIT center down there has got some violent predators, and you don’t even know they’re there," he said.

The proposal is a major victory for state Sens. Thomas Libous and James Seward, who have worked to keep Pharsalia open.

"This is big news," said Seward, R-Milford.

Now, the two lawmakers said, it is time to hear from residents and ensure that their questions are answered and their concerns addressed.

Libous, R-Binghamton, said residents need to keep an open mind.

"We don’t get an opportunity to create a thousand jobs often," he said.

The New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, the union that represents correction officers, praised the initiative to protect the public, but "we steadfastly oppose the closing of any correctional facility," said union President Larry Flanagan.

Mike Fraser, spokesman for the state Department of Correctional Services, said no Pharsalia employees will lose their jobs but that they will be transferred to other prisons. Camp Pharsalia houses 143 inmates and has a staff of 91, including 65 security personnel.

Advocates for the mentally ill said they were pleased the governor doesn’t plan to house sex offenders in mental hospitals.

But David Seay, executive director of the state chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, said he is concerned about the governor’s plan to seek $27 million to house sex offenders in existing mental- health facilities in the coming state fiscal year.

He wants assurances that the limited resources of the state Office of Mental Health won’t be tapped if that amount proves insufficient.

"If you don’t do that, people who need psychiatric treatment ain’t going to get it," he said.

The governor, who presents his budget next week, is also seeking $35 million to renovate existing OMH facilities so they can be used to temporarily house sex offenders.

In a related matter, lawmakers from both houses expressed hope that they would soon have a deal on civil confinement.

Sen. Dale Volker, the western New York Republican who is sponsoring civil confinement legislation in his house, said it appears that the Senate and Assembly are close enough to close on the issue soon.

"I don’t think it’s that far apart," he said.

Assemblyman Jeff Aubry, D-Queens, chairman of the Assembly Correction Committee, said there are some differences in the two bills, but "I don’t think they’re insurmountable."

The Assembly and Senate also agreed to meet in conference committee to come up with a plan to keep hundreds of lower-level sex offenders from dropping off of a state registry later this month.

Locals ’can’t believe’ plans for Pharsalia. By Tom Grace
Oneonta Daily Star, January 12, 2006

Concerns range from inmate type to job security

PHARSALIA — The Rev. Kenneth Matthews was upset to learn Wednesday that Gov. George Pataki would like to house 500 sexual offenders across state Route 23 from his farmhouse in rural Pharsalia.

"I can’t believe they’re going to do that. No way," he said Wednesday morning after looking at newspaper stories about Pataki’s proposal to build a $130 million, 500-bed facility across the road.

For the past 50 years, the state has operated a minimum security prison, Camp Pharsalia, about 14 miles west of Norwich. Under the governor’s proposal, Camp Pharsalia, which houses about 145 prisoners and employs 91 people, would be demolished and the new complex would replace it.

Proposed to open in 2009, the new facility would employ as many as 1,000 people. Sexual predators who have completed prison sentences, but been deemed too dangerous to be released, would be civilly confined there until experts found them fit to be freed.

Matthews, who has lived here since 1989, said, "I know we’ve got to have some prisons, but nothing like that belongs in this town."

Matthews said Camp Pharsalia has been a pretty good neighbor, although the prison lights blot out the nighttime sky.

"You used to be able to see the stars when I first moved here, and it was great. You can’t really do that anymore, but I hate to see what it will be like when they build what they’ve got in mind," he said. "If you ask me, it’s all about money and who’s going to get it."

Matthews’ next-door neighbor, former Pharsalia Highway Superintendent Kalvin Small, said he was surprised and mostly not pleased when he heard the governor’s proposal.

"I’m leaning against it, and my wife isn’t going to like it at all," he said Wednesday. "She’s going to be worried about the grandchildren."

Small said that when Camp Pharsalia opened in 1956, it was meant to house young, non-violent prisoners. Over the years, older, more dangerous inmates who were in the last year or so of their prison sentences came to live there, too.

Although the inmate population has changed, Camp Pharsalia, a collection of one-story log- and-metal buildings, has been easy to live next to, he said. Over the years, supervised work crews from the prison have been helpful to local communities, painting buildings, helping to erect pole barns and taking on other tasks, Small said.

"I don’t imagine we’ll want sex offenders out doing that," he said.

Small’s brother, Barney, lives about a mile east on Route 23 and said he worries what will happen to Camp Pharsalia’s current employees after the minimum-security prison is razed to make way for the new facility.

"They’re talking about the good-paying jobs it will create, but who’s going to get those jobs?" he asked. "My wife, Bev, and I have friends who work there now, and we worry about them."

Tuesday, a spokesman for the state Department of Correctional Services said Camp Pharsalia’s current employees will be allowed to transfer to other prisons, but Barney Small said these employees have roots in the community and may not want to leave.

He added that he is unsure about the ethics of confining prisoners who have served out their sentences.

"I don’t want to stick up for sex offenders, but I worry about what the government’s doing. It seems there are no rules," he said. "If these guys shouldn’t be getting out, why weren’t they sentenced to life?"

Small, who is retired, said he also sees the attraction of an enterprise that will provide 1,000 good-paying jobs.

"They’re talking $45,000 and up, and you’ve got to consider that, too," he said. "It’s going to make a big change in this town, bring a lot of people in."

Dan Brown, who was at work at a pallet-building plant Wednesday on Route 23, said he also worries about the legality of confining prisoners who’ve completed their sentences.

Brown, brother of Pharsalia Supervisor Dennis Brown, said, "You don’t know what a court’s going to say to that. It could be they’ll close the camp, then build nothing and that wouldn’t be very good."

Brown said he wanted to hear details about Pataki’s proposal before making up his mind about it.

Robert Loomis, who lives just off Route 23 a few miles from Camp Pharsalia, said he doesn’t worry about sexual predators escaping and showing up at his door.

"If they come around here, they might not go back," he said.

Loomis noted that Pataki has been trying to close Camp Pharsalia for a few years and said it would be better to convert it to a new use than close it.

"I don’t see why they have to knock down the buildings, though. Most of them are in good shape and some are almost new," he said. "It seems like an awful waste."

Peter Hudiburg and his sister, Chloe Hudiburg, who live across the town line in Plymouth, said they oppose having hundreds of sexual offenders housed a few miles away in Pharsalia.

"When the politicians propose something like this, they always try to seduce you with the promise of jobs," Peter Hudiburg said. "I’ve heard it before, and I’m opposed to it."

Pataki's plan to send sex offenders to Chenango gains support
But Democrats raise concerns about costs. By Cara Matthews
Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin, January 12, 2006

ALBANY — Republicans generally back Gov. George E. Pataki's plan to convert a prison work camp in Chenango County into a facility for dangerous sex offenders, but Democrats said Wednesday that they had some concerns and were not ready to embrace the idea.

The disparate views signal that legislators and the governor might have far to go before agreeing on how to handle sex criminals who have completed their prison sentences but are still considered dangerous. Pataki and Republicans favor civil confinement, which means keeping some sex offenders in custody after they finish their prison terms. After years of opposition, Democrats recently indicated they might be interested in a compromise.

The governor recommended this week that Camp Pharsalia, a 50-year-old, minimum-security prison in Chenango County, be demolished and transformed into a $130 million, 500-bed facility. More than 1,000 staff people would be employed there, with an approximate annual payroll of $80 million, the governor said.

Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, D-Endwell, said she doesn't understand why the governor would spend $62 million to renovate state facilities and treat sex offenders in the interim, then spend another $130 million to renovate the prison.

"Frankly, I think we're better off spreading the civil confinement burden across the state into already existing facilities. Frankly, I think that's more fiscally responsible," Lupardo said. "The popular political sound byte is to tout new jobs (at Pharsalia), but without looking at the bigger picture, you're really not doing responsible public policy."

In contrast, Sen. Thomas W. Libous, R-Binghamton, said it would be easier to run a civil commitment program housed in one facility, rather than in pockets statewide. Pharsalia is on a large piece of property, and it has been slated for closure the past few years because of the state's declining prison population. There could be competition from elsewhere if Pharsalia didn't want the facility. Camp McGregor, a minimum-security prison in Wilton, Saratoga County, is one possibility. People in the North Country are saying they could use the economic development, he said.

"At the end of the day, it will be Chenango County's decision," Libous said.

The state Office of Mental Health would run the new Camp Pharsalia, rather than the Department of Correctional Services. The governor expects the facility to open by 2009.

The Assembly leadership wants to review the idea in the context of the governor's 2006-07 budget proposal, which he will deliver Tuesday, said Sisa Moyo, a spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan. The Assembly

Democrats have pushed for housing offenders in secure facilities, separate from the mentally ill, and emphasizing treatment and longer prison sentences.

"The proof will be in the details (of the proposal). Right now, we have a press release. We don't have a concrete bill," Moyo said.

Assembly Mental Health Committee Chairman Peter Rivera, D-Bronx, said he wouldn't oppose the Pharsalia plan. "I see us being neutral on it," he said.

The Democrat-led Assembly's proposal does not address specifically where they would go, except to say a secure facility that could be on the grounds of a state prison. The commissioner of mental health or the commissioner of the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities would designate the location.

Advocates for the mentally ill have opposed housing sex offenders in the same institutions as the mentally ill without taking special precautions to separate the two populations and protect mentally ill patients.

"By doing a separate building, that makes us feel a little better about the public safety issue. But our overarching concern is about resources," said Glenn Liebman, executive director of the state Mental Health Association. "We're already an under-funded mental health system."

The governor has been pushing for civil confinement of sex offenders since the late 1990s. He received support from the GOP-controlled Senate but not from the Assembly. He forced the issue last summer when he ordered state agencies to use existing mental health law to continue confining dangerous sex offenders after they finished their prison terms. Sex criminals sued, and a state judge ruled that Pataki had violated the men's civil rights. The case is on appeal.

Senate Correction Committee Chairman Michael Nozzolio, R-Fayette, Seneca County, said what the governor is recommending could be a fitting use for Camp Pharsalia. There are other state prisons that could fit the bill for what Pataki wants to do and there could be competition for the facility, he said, but he declined to elaborate on the issue.

Nozzolio said he has concerns about safety at the facility. "Is this a total separation from the Department of Corrections or will there still be a component of corrections at these types of facilities?" he asked. "Frankly, I believe there should be a component for corrections. The security portion is important."

The New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association Inc. opposes the closing of any prison that would displace any of its members, said Larry Flanagan, its president.

Mental Health Groups React to Pataki's Civil Confinement Plan. By Karen DeWitt
New York Public Radio, January 12, 2006

Governor Pataki has proposed building a separate housing facility near an existing prison to house convicted sex offenders who are deemed at high risk to repeat their crimes. Mental health advocates have reacted with cautious optimism to the news.

Governor Pataki, in his new budget, will propose spending $130 million dollars to build a new secure housing facility to hold convicted sex offenders who've served their time in prison but who may be at high risk for repeating their crimes.

The proposal would build the unit at the site of a former minimum-security prison, known as Camp Pharsalia, in Central New York. It would be operated by the State Office of Mental Health.

Mental health advocates are relieved that sex offenders won't be placed in mental institutions along with non-violent people with illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Glenn Liebman, with the Mental Health Association, says he's "somewhat mollified" that there will be a separate facility for sexual offenders, and that they won't be co-mingled with people with psychiatric disabilities.

But Leibman says he remains concerned that money that should be used for people with mental illness would be spent on sex offenders instead.

"We have a starving community mental health system that needs funding ," he said. "The last thing we'd want to see happen is to see funding taken away from that to help fund sexual predators."

Harvey Rosenthal, with the advocacy group the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, says he's "cautiously optimistic" about the Governor's proposal to house sex offenders in a separate location from people with mental disabilities. He says sexual predators and abusers don't really belong in the mental health system. ...he says the mental health laws are the only laws, other than criminal laws, that permit involuntary confinement.

Rosenthal says he's happy the governor has proposed new money to deal with the civil confinement of sex offenders, but he also hopes money for mental health services is not diverted to sex offenders in future years.

The new facility for sexual predators cannot be completed until 2009. In the meantime, Pataki wants the state Office of Mental Health to modify parts of existing psychiatric hospitals, to house rapists and sexual abusers in separate wings for the short term. He's allotted $27 million dollars in his budget for the conversions.

While Governor Pataki, Senate Republicans and Assembly Democrats all agree that there has to be some kind of civil confinement for sex offenders considered at risk of repeating their crimes, they don't agree on the best way to accomplish that.

Pataki wants judges to order psychiatric evaluations of some convicted sex offenders who are considered to be at high risk for recidivism.

The Senate, led by Republicans, supports the Governor's plan.

Assembly Democrats have proposed letting a jury decide whether a person convicted of a felony sexual offense should be subject to civil confinement.

The governor last fall became impatient with waiting for an agreement with Democrats. He began using existing laws to involuntarily confine sexual predators who were released from prison. Around 200 convicted sex offenders were evaluated by state psychiatrists, and 33 were sent to mental hospitals. The former prisoners are appealing their confinement in the courts.