TRUMBULL COUNTY Officials to OK plan for jail

The city will pay $13.75 more per bed at the county jail.
By STEPHEN SIFF
and PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- County commissioners are expected to approve today an agreement that will reserve 30 beds in the county jail for inmates from Warren.
Officials hope the agreement will resolve a space crunch at the jail, which has frequently resulted in subjects arrested in the city being turned loose.
The agreement also increases the amount the city pays per bed, from $45 to $58.75 a night, which is expected to increase the city's total payments by $20,000 a month.
"We are guaranteeing them space at the hotel," said chief deputy sheriff Ernie Cook. "It is a win-win."
The six-month agreement is expected to take effect next month. Officials have been testing the plan for the last 30 days on a trial basis.
"We've been doing this for month now, and it has worked fantastic," said Capt. Tim Bowers, who has been an outspoken critic of the overcrowding issue at the jail.
Some were turned away
Bowers has said previously that many city prisoners were being turned away because of a lack of space at the jail.
Under the previous agreement, the city was expected to pay for the jail stays of inmates charged for breaking city ordinance. But because some prisoners were charged both under city and state law, calculating the number of city inmates became contentious, Cook said.
The city was being billed for about 20 beds, he said.
The other aspect of the agreement that pleases city officials is that the jail is processing the city's inmates.
"We don't have a jail here, so we had no secure place to fingerprint and photograph people," Bowers said. "Now it will be done at the county jail, so we won't have to worry."
Bowers and Law Director Greg Hicks said previously inmates were being processed in an unlocked area at the police department.
"It's just a better situation having it done at the jail," Hicks said. "This agreement is really good for both sides."
siff@vindy.comsinkovich@vindy.com