Morris County Jails Will Be Under Control Of The Sheriff Again

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ— Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders voted unanimously to return control of the county jail to the sheriff, ending a year and a half long arrangement.

Control will be handed to the Sheriff's Office on Jan. 1, the first day of Sheriff-elect James Gannon's.

Current Sheriff Edward Rochford is retiring on Dec. 31.

“It makes great sense to have the sheriff run the jail and to return to what had been a long-time partnership of having the Sheriff and Freeholders be co-employers of corrections officers,’’ said Freeholder Doug Cabana, the board’s liaison on law and public safety issues. “We only took control reluctantly a little more than a year ago because of mismanagement, especially on the fiscal side, that forced our hand."

Control was stripped from the Sheriff's Office in June of 2015 as a result of a number of disputes between the Board and Rochford. (You can read more about that here.)

For the past 16 months, The County Administrator and County Counsel have taken all actions necessary for the jail to be controlled at the county level, including the implementation of a warden.

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