Erie County is seeking an extra $617,700 from New York state to cover extended costs of housing inmates during 2025’s correction officers strike.

ERIE COUNTY, N.Y. — Erie County is seeking an additional $617,700 from New York state to cover costs associated with housing parole violators during last year’s correction officers strike, County Executive Mark Poloncarz said Wednesday.

The county has already received approximately $2.2 million from the state for housing inmates who otherwise would have been transferred to state facilities during the strike. Under a state reimbursement policy, local governments receive $100 per day for eligible inmates after they have been in custody for 10 days.



This story continues below.

RELATED: Erie County offers outreach events for short-term rental owners

Poloncarz confirmed that the county is seeking additional reimbursement because the strike resulted in state inmates remaining in county custody far longer than normal. While the county typically houses state inmates for about 10 to 15 days, some inmates stayed for three or four months during the strike.

The extended stays increased the county’s costs for detention and inmate services, prompting the request for the additional state funding.

“I know the sheriff is seeking an additional $617,000 and I support that. We certainly should be paid for the services provided by the county and I’m hopeful that the state will reimburse the county to house their inmates,” Poloncarz said Wednesday. “It’s not uncommon for the county to be housing inmates for an amount of time but this was a sizable amount as a result of the continued strikes and the incidents that had occurred and I support the efforts to get full reimbursement.”

Poloncarz said Erie County is currently trending toward a positive budget variance this year. However, he added that reimbursement from the state would allow the county to direct those funds toward other needs rather than using them to directly offset expenses related to the strike.

The county continues to await the state’s decision on the additional reimbursement request.