New York Consolidated Laws, Correction Law - COR § 90. Purposes of article

1. To provide correctional programs for persons who receive sentences of imprisonment with terms of one year or less and who otherwise would be confined in institutions in counties that do not have a sufficient number of incarcerated individuals to justify construction of an adequate correctional institution or operation of a modern correctional program;

2. To provide a method of relieving space pressures in correctional institutions operated by local government;  and

3. To expand the use of programs designed to bridge the gap between incarceration and activities in the community, through the use of institutions operated by local government as facilities for residential treatment of persons in the custody of the state department of corrections and community supervision.