COLUMBIANA COUNTY Sheriff gets ready to move some staff to former law library

Inmate labor is being used to reduce the project's cost.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Recently vacated office space in the crowded Columbiana County Courthouse won't stay empty for long.
Sheriff Dave Smith is preparing to move some of his staff into basement rooms that until a few weeks ago housed the county law library.
The library moved about a block from the courthouse, freeing the space.
The sheriff said Thursday he is preparing to move three deputies into the former library from a smaller office in the courthouse basement.
In addition, four sheriff's department secretaries will be moved to the courthouse from sheriff's offices in the county jail complex in Center Township.
The courthouse staff will handle many of the civil duties that the sheriff's department does, such as organizing sheriff's sales.
Added duty
Sheriff's personnel in the new office at the courthouse will take on an added duty.
The space contains the courthouse's entrance for the disabled, who may use a ramp from outside to reach a door at the courthouse's shallow basement level.
With county officials putting increasing emphasis on courthouse security, sheriff's personnel will check people who use the handicap entrance, which also includes delivery people who need the ramp to bring large loads into the building.
It will take about two months to prepare the former library for occupancy by sheriff's staff, Smith said.
Renovations include painting, and installation of new ceiling tile, new carpet, and computer and phone lines.
Inmates used
The department is using county jail inmates to do some of the remodeling, which is saving on the project's cost.
Smith estimated about $4,000 will be spent on the undertaking. Part of that amount will come from his budget and part from the county general fund.
The county general fund also will be the source of about $30,000 needed to buy 21 computers for the sheriff's department.
Some of the new machines will be used in the relocated office, and others at the sheriff's offices in the jail complex.
Smith said the department must replace its computers because the machines it has are about 8 years old and outdated.
It's unclear what will become of the space in the courthouse basement that's being vacated by the sheriff's department.
"There are several officeholders fighting over that," Smith quipped.
leigh@vindy.com