Officials to vote on buying 50 more beds for jail

Keeping more federal detainees means more revenue, the sheriff said.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County officials want to bump up the number of federal inmates who can be housed in the county jail, but first they need a place to bunk them.
County commissioners were expected to vote today on buying an additional 50 beds to be installed at the lockup on Fifth Avenue. Sheriff Randall Wellington said they will be added in cells that have only one bunk.
By double-bunking in those cells, the jail can hold more inmates, Wellington said.
The idea is to make room for more inmates who are in federal custody and have to be kept in local jails while they await federal court appearances.
The county houses about 67 such inmates, for which it is reimbursed by the federal government at a rate of $67 per day. Earlier in the week, the number was as high as 91. Wellington said that by keeping more federal detainees here, the county can generate more revenue for the general fund.
Corrections Corporation of America reopened the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center on Youngstown's East Side earlier this year for the purpose of holding federal detainees. Those prisoners are booked into the county jail and then transported to NOCC.
Contract with CCA
But under a contract the county signed with CCA, the county has the option of keeping up to 200 federal inmates in the county jail, with any inmates over that number going to NOCC.
"We have the right to take that first 200 if we want them, but at this point we can't handle them," Wellington said.
Once the new bunks are installed, probably sometime within the next two months, the jail's capacity will be about 650 inmates, the sheriff said.
The county bought and installed 135 additional beds last year to accommodate extra inmates at the jail, including local prisoners and federal detainees, Wellington said.
The sheriff had to receive special permission last year from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to bunk two inmates per cell because it deviates from state jail standards.
Wellington said he doesn't believe bringing in more federal inmates will cause the jail to be overcrowded or put a strain on deputies who guard the inmates.
He said inmates are assigned to a pod of cells, each with one deputy assigned to cover it for security. He said one deputy still can guard the inmates, even though the number will double from 18 to 36 per pod.
"I don't see a reason to increase staffing at this point," he said.
The new bunks will be manufactured by East Jordan Iron Works of Youngstown at a cost of $320 apiece, said Joseph Caruso, assistant county administrator.
Commissioner David Ludt said the beds will be installed by county facilities management employees, rather than hiring a private contractor to do the work.
bjackson@vindy.com