WARREN Grand jury says jail is dangerous

Sheriff Thomas Altiere said he wishes he could control the jail population.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Members of the Trumbull County grand jury say they are concerned about the overcrowding at the county jail.
As part of their duties, the grand jury toured the facility last month and noted on a one-page report, released Thursday, that great concern was expressed about the high jail population.
"The jail housed 310 prisoners in a facility designed to house 280," the report states. "With inmates sleeping on pallets in the common area of the pods, it is not possible to completely lock down the facility. This is a dangerous situation for both corrections officers and prisoners."
Sheriff Thomas Altiere and Ernest Cook, chief of jail operations, said they agree with the grand jurors.
"I wish jail population was something I could control," Altiere said. "This is a problem that I can't do much to change."
Cook agreed and said that the overcrowding is "very frustrating."
The 5-year-old Trumbull County Jail occasionally has to turn away prisoners arrested on misdemeanor charges. It is not unusual to have 330 prisoners booked into the facility, and the inmate count occasionally tops 350, Cook said.
"Something needs to be done and that's why we are looking into the possibility of creating a regional jail facility. We need more room."
What's being considered
Trumbull and Mahoning County officials have met over the past few months and discussed creating a regional jail.
Officials are considering transforming the empty private prison in Youngstown into a multicounty jail.
Officials from both counties are currently discussing a feasibility study to determine if the project would be possible.
The 2,106-bed medium-security prison has been empty since July 2001 when the federal government transferred the last of its 1,700 inmates from the private facility, built in the 1990s by Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America.
Altiere said officials do not know how the jail would be funded or how it would be operated.
Those questions would probably be answered with the feasibility study, Cook said.
sinkovich@vindy.com