TRUMBULL COUNTY Sheriff's office to recall workers

The recalls will not boost the number of patrol officers.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Letters are expected to go out today recalling about half of the Trumbull County Sheriff's Department employees who remain on furlough, said Sheriff Thomas Altiere.
The recall was made possible by a deal, finalized Wednesday, to house between 50 and 60 inmates from the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Service in the county jail's shuttered fourth floor.
Housing the inmates will bring in about $500,000 for the county this year, and allow 22 laid-off employees to return to work, said Altiere said.
Returning employees will work in the jail, he said. The recall will not boost the department's depleted ranks of patrol officers.
Inmates from BCIS, formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Service, will be in addition to the roughly 25 U.S. Marshals Service prisoners who have been housed at the jail for most of the year.
Estimate of funds
Officials estimate that the U.S. Marshals Service contract will pull in $442,000 for the county this year.
Altiere said he signed a contract for BCIS inmates, primarily immigrants waiting for deportation hearings, several months ago. However, it took a realignment between the agency's Detroit and Cleveland offices to actually bring prisoners to Trumbull County, he said. Inmates are expected to arrive Aug. 8.
Commissioners previously agreed to allow the sheriff's department to use money collected for housing inmates for its own expenses, Altiere said.
The county budget commission, made up of the auditor, treasurer and prosecutor, is slated to discuss how much money additional inmates could generate when it meets Monday.
siff@vindy.com