Two state prisons — Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Washington County and Sullivan Correctional Facility in Sullivan County will close this year, the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said Thursday.

Though prisons in Essex and Franklin counties appear safe from closure for now, DOCCS said that continued plateaus in staff recruitment may lead the department to consider exercising its option to close more prisons during the 2024-25 fiscal year.

The closure process will begin immediately, and Nov. 6 will be the last day the prisons are open. Typically, prisons must be given a year’s notice of closure. However, when up to five prison closures were authorized in the 2024-25 state budget, the Legislature approved a shorter time frame of 90 days’ notice.

Assemblyman Matt Simpson, R-Lake George, said in a statement that the prison closures were “an unwise decision by the governor.”

“Great Meadow Correctional Facility provides economic stability and support for families all over Washington County. This abrupt announcement and lack of any post-closure plans leaves local economies and the families dependent on this institution facing uncertainty,” he said.

Great Meadow Correctional Facility is located in Comstock, about 14 miles east of Lake George and just outside the Blue Line.

State Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, said in a statement he was “extremely disappointed” by the announcement.

“This is a devastating social and economic blow to the area,” he said. “Instead of closing Great Meadow and letting it fall apart at the expense of taxpayers, the governor’s office needs to do the smart thing and ensure that this facility can serve as a source of economic opportunity for the region.”

Great Meadow and Sullivan were chosen after DOCCS “carefully conducted a review of the operations at its 44 correctional facilities,” according to the department. The review considered the prisons’ populations, physical plant, program offerings and services, among other factors. Both prisons are maximum-security. Great Meadow employs 559 and currently has 480 inmates, while Sullivan employs 371 and has 426 inmates.

When the state Legislature passed Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to close up to five prisons in the 2024-25 state budget, all local representatives — Stec, Jones and Simpson — voted against the bill in the budget package that authorized the prison closures. Meanwhile, local leaders — North Elba town Supervisor Derek Doty, St. Armand town Supervisor Davina Thurston, Harrietstown town Supervisor Jordanna Mallach and Saranac Lake village Mayor Jimmy Williams — voiced opposition to the closures, which could have included Adirondack Correctional Facility in Ray Brook, in an April letter to Hochul.

“We live in a part of the state that is economically dependent upon the fluctuations of tourism,” the letter reads. “One of the few stabilizing economic generators in our region, which offset these painful variations, is the Adirondack Correctional Facility, in which so many Adirondackers work and upon which many more depend.”

North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, said in a statement Thursday that the prisons should remain open.

“I am calling on Governor Kathy Hochul to reverse her disastrous decision to close correctional facilities across New York State which will impact hundreds of jobs, unravel communities, and overcrowd our remaining prisons making them more dangerous for our law enforcement officers,” she said.

DOCCS opted to close only two prisons instead of the maximum five right now to “minimize the effect on staff, and at the same time attempt to close the gap on staffing shortages,” the department wrote in a news release.

New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association President Chris Summers said prison closures “have failed to fix the long-term problem” of staffing shortages. NYSCOPBA is the union that represents corrections officers.

“Recruitment of new officers has lagged significantly and officers eligible to retire are walking out the door in droves as a result of dangerous working conditions and mandated overtime,” Summers said in a statement. “As a result of staffing shortages and mandatory overtime, members spend more time working in the prison (than) they do with their families and their quality of life suffers as a result.”

All staff who lose their jobs at Great Meadow and Sullivan will be offered positions at other DOCCS facilities. No layoffs are anticipated, DOCCS said. The department’s press release left open the possibility of further closures, however.

Summers said staff redistribution won’t help in the long run.

“The state of New York needs to take bold and creative action to fix the staffing issue that is creating low morale and pushing members to their limits,” he said. “Closing prisons and expecting different results certainly is not bold and creative, it is shortsighted.”

New York state Public Employees Federation President Wayne Spence said on Thursday that PEF will be on hand to help any member who tries to secure a new job with DOCCS.

“These men and women must now confront the hardships associated with transferring to a new job or possibly losing a job due to lack of seniority, as well as potentially uprooting their families, finding new schools for their kids, and a host of other stressful situations associated with sudden changes to their employment,” he said in a statement. “There is never a good time to find out your job will undergo significant changes, but this is when ‘union strong’ is more than just a slogan.”

The closed facilities have the potential to be reused for new purposes in the future, DOCCS said. When prisons in the Adirondack Park close, reuse becomes complicated, as abandoned prisons like Camp Gabriels in Brighton cannot be sold without the Legislature first passing a constitutional amendment to remove the prison from the Forest Preserve. Such amendments require passage by both state houses in two successive legislative sessions before they can be presented to voters on a ballot.

The most recent amendment regarding Camp Gabriels passed the state Senate in May but the Assembly failed to pass it before its session ended, meaning both the Senate and Assembly will have to start the process over for a sixth time in their next sessions.

Hochul said in a January visit to Lake Placid that her proposal to close up to five prisons was primarily due to a workforce shortage. She added that former prisons could be repurposed into housing or other community services following their closures.

“Of the 44 prisons in the state, 11 are in the North Country. So, when they closed based on population of the prisons, it does have an impact on the community … and that’s why, the ones that we’ve closed already, we’re working really hard with the local communities to reimagine those properties,” she said. “The problem we have right now is we also have a severe shortage of corrections officers. We have a workforce shortage. So every person whose home facility closes will absolutely find another facility. We commit to that.”

The state has closed 24 prisons since 2011, including Moriah Shock, in Essex County, in 2022. Moriah Shock closed despite fervent opposition within the community and remains vacant. Camp Gabriels has been closed since 2009.

According to DOCCS, as of Thursday, the total incarcerated population in New York state correctional facilities is 33,419, a more than 54% decline since the state’s high of 72,773 in 1999.