MAHONING COUNTY Sheriff puts off expected layoffs until January

The federal judge will review written closing arguments.
AKRON -- Mahoning County Sheriff Randall A. Wellington told a federal judge he won't lay off 120 of his department's 190 deputies this weekend as planned.
Wellington told U.S. District Judge David D. Dowd that he will wait until the end of the month to see if Mahoning County commissioners impose a half-cent sales tax voters rejected last month. If commissioners do not impose the tax, layoffs will take place in early January, the sheriff said.
Wellington was the final witness Wednesday afternoon in a class-action lawsuit filed by Akron lawyers on behalf of Mahoning County jail inmates.
The lawyers contend the jail is understaffed, which leads to lock-downs -- prolonged periods of time in which inmates remain confined to their cells. While confined, they have no access to the "day room," a 2,660-square-foot open area in the middle of each cell housing unit.
Inmates, if sufficiently guarded, are allowed out of their cells 121/2 hours each day.
Judge Dowd will review written closing arguments before ruling. If he sides with the plaintiffs, staffing levels would have to maintained, which could result in a release of inmates.
$6.5 million budget cut
The jail, designed to hold 434 inmates in single cells, has installed permanent second bunks in 168 of those cells. It has also been using temporary movable bunks, called bots.
Wellington told the judge that he's been on a financial roller-coaster since becoming sheriff in 1999. He said this most recent setback, failure of the sales tax, will cut his annual budget from $13.5 million to $7 million.
Mahoning County is being defended by Columbus lawyers Daniel T. Downey and Mark Landes.
Landes questioned Wellington about deputies who call off sick. The sheriff said call-offs are more prevalent now than when he first got into law enforcement in the mid-1950s. "In those days, we had no unions," he said.
He said a police officer, before unions, could be sent to check on the officer who called off sick. That isn't permitted now because of unions, but proof of an illness can be required if a deputy misses more than three days, he said.
Previous testimony established that deputies complain of low morale and often call off sick. The shortage of guards means inmates get locked down.
Wellington gave Judge Dowd the day after Thanksgiving as an example. The sheriff said he's required by judges to assign 21 deputies to the Mahoning County Courthouse. The day after the holiday, four deputies assigned to the courthouse and four assigned to the jail reported off sick.
Wellington said that even though only two judges were working that day, he was denied a request to send only 17 deputies to the courthouse. He had to send 21 and, as a result, inmates were locked down because of a guard shortage.
The sheriff testified that all his deputies -- except for the 21 at the courthouse -- are assigned to the jail. The department has 190 deputies, 17 of whom are on paid leave for various reasons.
Union concessions
The sheriff said the deputies' union has made concessions in an effort to prevent layoffs. He said the union began making health-care co-payments, gave up tuition and longevity pay and cut overtime.
Wellington told the judge that he laid off 31 interim deputies (those who have not completed the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy course) last month but got funding from commissioners to call back 10 on Monday.
He acknowledged to Judge Dowd that the jail population is higher than it was in years past, 668 as of Wednesday. He drew a correlation, saying crime is down because more people are locked up.
Alki Santamas, warden/jail administrator, also testified. He listed upgrades to the jail, including additional security cameras in the day rooms and new touch screens, which activate electronic doors.
Judge Dowd asked if cameras were more important than personnel. Santamas said no.
"There's certainly a shortage of personnel," the judge said.
The warden explained that drug forfeiture money, not taxpayers' money, was used to buy the surveillance cameras.
He said the outdoor recreation areas on the high-rise jail have been shut down because inmates were making "fishing lines" out of sheets and lowering them to friends on the ground. The friends were attaching contraband, such as hacksaw blades.
Design flaws
Santamas said the recreation areas have a definite design flaw and an architect is looking at redesigning them.
Santamas said he doesn't like to do lock-downs because "we all like to live our lives on a schedule." Safety, though, is more important, he said.
The warden said that the average stay in the jail is 27 days. The judge countered that the earlier testimony of a female inmate who has been awaiting trial for 30 months did damage to the average.
Ed Drennen, maintenance supervisor, testified about the condition of the vacuum flush toilets. Previous testimony showed the toilets frequently break down.
Drennen said a toilet stuck in the open position will fail the entire system because of low vacuum pressure. He said inmates stuff everything from blankets to rubber gloves and toilet paper "wadded up like snowballs" in the toilets.
The defense called James G. Ricketts of Scottsdale, Ariz., as an expert corrections facility witness. He said he was surprised by the lawsuit because he found the Mahoning County jail well designed.
Ricketts said he didn't find negative attitude from the staff or inmates when he toured the facility in February. He said the problem is the amount of staff available on a day-to-day basis.
Ricketts said 150 deputies would be enough "if you could get people to come to work."