NORWICH – The Chenango County Correctional Facility is among hundreds of jails and prisons across the country that face the potentially costly effects of the latest stage of the Prison Rape Elimination Act.

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), a federal initiative originally signed into law in 2003, is for the analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape in federal, state and local institutions. The legislation provides information resources, recommendations and funding to protect individuals from prison rape, according to the National PREA Resource Center website.

However, the latest finalizations to PREA also require sight and sound separation of juvenile and minor prisoners from adult inmates - a move that’s burdensome for the Chenango County Correctional Facility and county taxpayers. The institution currently separates adult inmates from adolescent inmates by use of a chain link fence, but sight and sound separation may require extensive renovations in the near future, explained Chenango County Sheriff Ernest Cutting.

“PREA has good intent and there are a lot of jails where more oversight is needed,” Cutting said. “But federal regulations lump every facility into the same category and my concerns are obviously the costs. We might have to construct something within the facility to meet those regulations.”