MAHONING COUNTY Screening to reduce number of jail inmates

Nonviolent offenders will be recommended for release to await trial.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A screening system to help cut down the number of inmates in the Mahoning County Jail should be in place early next month.
"We're all set to go," said Richard Billak of Community Corrections Association. "Everybody has come together and worked well on this."
The system, patterned after one in Summit County, has been in the works since January, when county officials began looking for ways to reduce jail operating costs by cutting down the number of inmates held there.
Only about 30 percent of inmates are actually serving court-imposed sentences. The screening system will target the remaining 70 percent, who are being held because they can't post bond while they await trial or court appearances.
Alternative methods
Billak said the screening program, set to be activated the week of July 6, will identify inmates who can be released from jail and monitored with alternative methods, such as electronic ankle bracelets. Some might also be placed into treatment programs for substance abuse.
First to be evaluated will be inmates already locked up in the jail. Once the violent offenders are screened out, program staff members will identify nonviolent offenders who are being held because they can't afford to post their bond.
Staff will then recommend an alternative control method and ask the judge in charge of the case to consider releasing the inmate from jail.
Once the current jail population is screened, the program will focus on people who are booked into the jail on new charges, Billak said.
Federal inmates
Sheriff Randall Wellington said reducing the number of county inmates will make room for more federal inmates in the jail, which produces revenue for the county.
The U.S. Marshal's office uses county jails to hold inmates who are awaiting sentencing or appearances in U.S. District Court on federal charges. Counties are reimbursed by the federal government for the cost of housing those inmates.
Program administration
The program will originally be administered at no cost to the county by CCA staffers who are already assigned to work at the jail for other inmate services, Billak said. The county has applied for a grant that, if awarded, will fund hiring of four people to staff the program full-time beginning next year.
Billak said he had hoped to have the program up and running in May, but it took longer than expected to meet with all county judges, gather their input and work out details of the program.
bjackson@vindy.com