TRUMBULL COUNTY Judge, commissioner call for double bunking at jail

Double bunking could mean the jail would no longer be allowed to house federal prisoners, the sheriff says.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- It's time jail inmates begin sharing cells, a local municipal court judge and a county commissioner say.
Judge Thomas Gysegem of Warren Municipal Court and Trumbull County Commissioner Michael J. O'Brien say inmates at the county jail should double bunk -- two people to a cell instead of one.
"The sheriff is aware that there is a procedure where he can apply to the state Rehabilitation and Correction Department to get permission to double bunk, and he needs to do that," O'Brien said.
"Since the jail opened in 1998 we have not had enough room. It's time to double bunk."
Housing two inmates in one cell would not solve the lack of space at the jail, Sheriff Thomas Altiere said.
"We applied to the state for double bunking and decided not to do it at this time," Altiere said. "Before the state will approve double bunking, we would have to get rid of all outside contracts, which would mean we would not longer be allowed to house federal inmates."
The jail houses inmates from the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Service and the U.S. Marshals Service. The government pays $65 per day, per inmate, officials said.
"By having the federal inmates we are able to bring back laid-off correction officers," Altiere said. "If we didn't have the inmates, we would have to close the floor and lay off workers, and we would have less beds than we have now."
He said double bunking would also mean more jailers would have to be hired.
"There are regulations we would have to follow if we were double bunking and that would mean more direct supervision and more jail programs and we don't have the money," said Ernie Cook, chief of operations at the jail.
Capacity
According to jail records, there is enough cells to hold close to 300 inmates. The average jail population is about 310, Cook said.
"We use portable bunks to house those we don't have a cell for," Cook said. Those inmates are kept in a common area of the facility until a cell is available.
"It gets difficult," said Judge Thomas Old of Newton Falls Municipal Court. "Sometimes you have to decide to let someone go early so you can get someone else in."
Judge Terry Ivanchak of Warren Municipal Court said he knows jail officials are trying to accommodate everybody.
"On violent crimes, the jail will always take the person; it's the misdemeanor, nonviolent crimes that we have some problems," Judge Ivanchak said.
At times the jail is so crowded inmates cannot serve the time ordered by the judge.
"There have been about two dozen people in my courtroom that didn't have to serve jail because they couldn't get in," Judge Gysegem said.
"Once a person appears at the jail three times [when ordered] and they can't get in, then I waive the jail time. They still have to do the other part of the sentence, such as serve probation and pay fines."
sinkovich@vindy.com