March 14, 2003

Sheriff selects jail boss

By Brendan Scott
Times Herald-Record

Goshen – It'll be something of a homecoming for the retired state correction official Sheriff Carl DuBois has tapped to take the helm of Orange County Jail.

After all, Dominick Orsino started his correction career as an Orange County sheriff's deputy in 1971. Now – after 25 years with the state Department of Correctional Services – the City of Newburgh resident has been selected to fill the county's long-vacant jail administrator post.

"He's got an impeccable background, in his credentials and his approach, DuBois said yesterday. DuBois has made the jail administrator search a priority of his first 100 days in office. "This appointment says a lot about where I want to take this office. For too many years it's been business as usual."

Orsino, 58, could not be reached for comment yesterday. He retired from Downstate Correctional Facility in Fishkill, where he was deputy superintendent for reception, and could start as early as next month.

If approved by the Legislature, he'll take over arguably one of the most important positions in county government.

The jail accounts for 70 percent of the sheriff's $35 million budget. The jail administrator oversees the performance of 300 employees and the welfare of 6,900 inmates each year.

The administrator himself is budgeted to receive $66,500 annually, although DuBois said that might be negotiated. The position has been vacant since July 2001, when former Sheriff Frank Bigger fired Theodore Catletti, now deceased. A search committee picked Orsino from a cast of 30 applicants last week.

"He comes highly qualified," County Executive Edward Diana said. "He certainly brings a lot of knowledge to the position. People will notice that immediately."

Orsino has served as deputy superintendent for reception in both Downstate and Ulster Correctional Facility in Napanoch. He also has a bachelor's degree from SUNY-New Paltz.

When he left the Orange County Jail in 1977, there was still no distinction between correction officers and sheriff's deputies. And the $92 million "direct supervision" jail he's been picked to run will be different world from the old Erie Street clink in Goshen.

Despite a state-of-the-art building and a host of new policies and procedures, claims of mistreatment and brutality continue to dog the jail's administration. Undersheriff Kenneth Jones, who investigated the potential jail administrator's background, said he expects Orsino to be a "quiet force" for change.

"He strikes me as a real disciplined guy, one who's very conscious of the rules," Jones said. "He'll be a sharp contrast to the history of the facility."