On the heels of a federal judge’s order that Erie County open its jails to a suicide-prevention expert, a state judge has ruled that the Holding Center is a “jail” and must provide items of personal hygiene to its inmates even before they are arraigned.

The lawsuit was filed by the State Commission of Correction in September to require the Sheriff’s Office to meet the state’s standards for jails even with inmates who have not yet seen a judge.

Critics of policies at the Holding Center say that some of its most inhumane conditions are found in the pens that isolate dozens of suspects who share one toilet and one bench for hours until they are led to court for the initial appearance on their charges.

Erie County officials contended that because the Holding Center contains the Buffalo Police Department’s lockup, that section of the facility should be governed by the more lenient standards of a short-term lockup. Most suspects arrested by other municipal agencies already have seen a local judge.

Sheriff Timothy B. Howard and his aides had said they should not have to provide visitation rights as well as bedding, tampons, toothpaste and standard handouts because the inmates might be released upon arraignment and their new possessions then discarded.

State inspectors, however, found prearraigned inmates going many hours and sometimes days without any concern given to hygiene. The Commission of Correction said jail standards were met only sporadically and sued to require that Howard run the Holding Center in a “safe, stable and humane manner.”

State Supreme Court Justice Diane Y. Devlin signed her ruling Monday, after U. S. District Judge William M. Skretny ruled over the weekend in a broader case filed by the U. S. Justice Department against the Erie County jails.

Skretny indicated he will reject Erie County’s motion to dismiss the Justice Department lawsuit, and he allowed a suicide- prevention expert to assess conditions at the jail March 22 in response to the spate of suicides there.

Devlin agreed with the Commission of Correction that the Holding Center, as well as the county Correctional Facility in Alden, must meet the minimum standards for New York’s jails and penitentiaries.

“The record is clear that the sheriff was not in compliance with each of the regulations cited in at least a technical, if not some substantial, manner,” Devlin wrote. “It is abundantly clear and uncontroverted that he was and still is not in compliance with most of the regulations cited as to prearraignment prisoners since he has taken the position that the regulations cited do not apply to prearraignment prisoners.”

With the ruling, the Commission of Correction can ask the judge to hold Howard in contempt if he avoids the regulations.

“It would be an option we would have moving forward that we may very well choose to use if there is a continuing disregard for the minimum standards,” commission Chairman Thomas A. Beilein said Tuesday.

He said that state inspectors, already in the jail to assess the suicide-prevention measures, will know within weeks whether the commission should return to court.

Howard’s staff and County Attorney Cheryl A. Green had responded that the state commission’s lawsuit should be considered moot because the Holding Center was substantially complying with state standards for jails.

Green repeated that position Tuesday as she called the Devlin decision irrelevant in a brief interview with The Buffalo News. She said the Holding Center meets jail standards, even though it should be considered a lockup in areas that hold defendants not yet arraigned.

“We began doing so even though we believe we shouldn’t be required to do so,” Green said.