The sheriff and jail warden agree it's crowded but say no rules are being broken.

The sheriff and jail warden agree it's crowded but say no rules are being broken.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Inmates at the Mahoning County Jail say they're overcrowded and being unfairly locked down.
But Sheriff Randall Wellington said no one's rights are being violated and there's no cause for alarm.
"It's not a country club; it's a jail," Wellington said.
Within the past three weeks, The Vindicator has received correspondence from nearly 20 inmates complaining about conditions at the jail. They say it's unsafe, unsanitary and unfit -- even for people convicted or accused of crimes.
"We all did something wrong to be placed in here, yes. But to be treated like animals is crazy," inmate Donald Mulholland wrote.
The inmates' primary complaint seems to be that the jail population is skyrocketing and many cells now hold two people instead of just one.
"They definitely are on point," Richard Billak said of the inmates' complaints. "It's really crowded over there."
Billak is chief executive officer of Community Corrections Association, which contracts with the county to provide inmate services such as education and substance-abuse treatment.
He said the total inmate population is consistently more than 700, which is about 100 more than capacity. Some 600 of those inmates are in the main jail on Fifth Avenue, and the rest are in the minimum-security jail across the street.
What's suggested
Billak said the sheriff might want to consider an emergency release of nonviolent offenders to relieve the overcrowding. Wellington and jail warden Alki Santamas said there is no policy in place for such a release, and they wouldn't use it anyway.
"There is no sense of urgency here," Santamas said. "The population could drop by itself in a week. We're able to manage."
He said the inmate population historically goes up in July and August, then starts to trickle down again in the fall.
Wellington and Santamas agreed that it's crowded in the jail but said no rules are being broken.
The county sought and received permission earlier this year from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to begin double-bunking inmates at the jail. An additional 150 bunks were installed, making room for more inmates.
The county has been pushing to get more prisoners brought to the jail by federal authorities. The county gets about $69 a day per inmate from the federal government for housing inmates who are awaiting sentencing or appearances in federal court.
Wellington said the prisoner population also is being affected by special crime crackdown programs being run by federal, state and local authorities. More people are being arrested and, as a result, the jail population is going up.
Santamas said the crackdowns are working, which should in turn make Youngstown a safer place to live and work.
"The police bring them in and we hold them," Santamas said. "This is what we do. It's what this building was built for and it's what the citizens want."
What's under way
The county started an inmate screening program more than a month ago, aimed at reducing the jail population by releasing certain nonviolent inmates who are awaiting trial. Billak, who is coordinating the program, said it has yet to make an impact.
"It's bogging down procedurally more than we thought it would," Billak said.
He said a large part of the delay was having to screen hundreds of inmates to get down to about two dozen who qualified for release. He said the first two were released last week and decisions are pending before judges for 12 others. He hopes to have as many as 30 to 50 pretrial inmates released by late September.
The inmates who are released are placed on electronic house arrest or some other means of monitoring them while they await trial.
The inmates also complain of being locked in their cells for hours at a time rather than being allowed to mill around with other inmates in the common areas of each jail pod. Wellington and Santamas said it's because the jail is short-staffed.
Inmates were locked down for days at a time earlier this year. Because of budget cuts, the sheriff was forced to lay off more than 50 deputies, leaving him short-handed in the jail. Without enough deputies to staff each pod, inmates were simply kept locked in their cells.
But the deputies were called back in the spring after the county budget commission approved more money for the department based on anticipated revenue from housing federal inmates.
Santamas said some of those who'd been laid off got new jobs and didn't come back. Other deputies have retired and some are on medical leave. He said the department needs an additional 10 to 15 deputies for the jail but has no money to hire them.
"We're upset about our budget, but there's nothing we can do about it," he said, noting that the department received about $2.5 million less than it requested for the year.
1992 suit
The jail situation has gotten the attention of Atty. Robert Armbruster of Akron, who sued the county in 1992 over the poor condition of the former jail on West Boardman Street. That suit resulted in the building of a new jail.
Armbruster said he's received similar complaints from jail inmates who want him to sue the county again. A suit can only be filed, though, if inmates' rights are being violated, and Armbruster said he's not sure that's the case.
"Part of the problem with complaints from jail inmates is that you're never sure what's legitimate and what's not," he said. "I'm not sure what's been going on down there lately, but I'd love to come down and find out."
Wellington said Armbruster and Atty. Thomas Kelley, who also was part of the 1992 lawsuit, visited the jail a few months ago and made no complaints. Wellington said the lawyers are welcome to come back.
bjackson@vindy.com