Former Sheriff's Officers to Lead County Jail Transition Away From Sheriff's Office

A transition team has been created to help the county take over the Morris County Correctional Facility from control of the Sheriff’s Office, and it includes former law enforcement officials with intimate knowledge of the facility’s operations.

The county announced Monday the team includes former Undersheriffs Ralph McGrane and Frank Corrente, who managed the closing of the old jail and opening of the new facility, along with the implementation of a new management style during the 1990s and 2000s.

Also on the team is former Undersheriff Staci Santucci, former Chief Sheriff’s Officer Gerard Marinelli, County Administrator John Bonanni, County Department of Law & Public Safety Director Scott Di Giralamo, County Manager of Labor Relations Allison Stapleton, and County Finanace Director Joseph Kovalcik.

After 275 years of management, the Sheriff’s Office was stripped of its jail duties during a Morris County Board of Freeholders vote last week that ended 6-0 in favor of the county taking control. The vote came as a result of ongoing financial and communication issues between the Sheriff and the county.

The transition team will be working toward a complete takeover by Sept. 1. Sheriff Ed Rochford said last week the vote and takeover was an “abuse of power.”

“The objective of transition would be to simply enact an organizational change that would put the county administration directly in charge of the jail and have the warden report to the county Department of Law and Public Safety,” the county said in a statement.

The county said it does not anticipate any reduction in current employees, but said it will focus on curtailing excessive overtime costs.