NYSSA Corrections Accreditation, Standards 118 and 119: Monthly Sanitation Inspections and a Kitchen Free of Rodents and Insects

Citation

New York State Sheriffs’ Association, Corrections Accreditation Manual of the New York State Sheriffs’ Association for Sheriffs’ Corrections Divisions, June 1998 (the page footers read Revised June, 1998), Standards 118 and 119 with commentary, in Chapter XIV, Health Standards. Read October 1, 2026 from the copy the association links from its accreditation page at nysheriffs.org, which says the manual “details 166 standards that a county must meet or exceed in order to earn accreditation.” Whether the 1998 text is the current edition is not verified here.

What It Says (Verbatim)

Standard 118:

“Written policy and procedures require that monthly sanitation inspections of the jail are conducted, and that written reports are submitted to the jail administrator and the health authority.”

Commentary (excerpts):

“In general, the areas to be inspected should include food preparation and storage areas, dining, inmate housing (including solitary confinement and segregation), toilets, baths, laundry, health service, and industrial operations.”

“It may be useful to develop a written checklist for these inspections; the completed checklist can serve as the written report also.”

Standard 119:

“The kitchen, dining, and food storage areas are kept clean and sanitary for the preparation and serving of meals.”

Commentary (excerpt):

“A sanitary kitchen is essential to good health. The area should be free of rodents and insects; floors, walls, ceilings, ducts, pipes and equipment should be free of particles (e.g., dirt, dust and dried food).”

What It Means in Plain Language

1. A monthly inspection with a paper trail. Standard 118 asks for written policy requiring a sanitation inspection every month, covering housing as well as the kitchen, with a written report to the jail administrator and the health authority. Pest activity and the conditions that feed it belong on that inspection.
2. A kitchen free of rodents and insects. Standard 119 asks for a clean and sanitary kitchen; its commentary names rodents and insects.
3. No pest control provider or frequency. Neither standard names a pest control provider or a service frequency. As with 9 NYCRR 7015.2(e), those are set in the jail’s own procedures and contract.

Who It Applies To

New York county jails that seek or hold the association’s corrections accreditation. It is an accreditation standard, not a state rule; the binding rule is 9 NYCRR Part 7015.

Documentation Evidence

• The written policy and procedures for monthly sanitation inspections
• Completed monthly inspection checklists or reports, and their routing to the jail administrator and the health authority
• Kitchen inspection findings for rodents and insects, and the corrections made

Confidence Notes

MEDIUM confidence: the quoted text is verbatim from the manual the association publishes, but the published manual is dated June 1998, and whether the standards or their numbering have changed since is not verified. Confirm against the edition your jail is assessed under.