MAHONING COUNTY Lawyers seek postponement of trial over jail

A status conference was scheduled for today in Akron.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Both sides in a federal lawsuit over conditions at the Mahoning County jail want to postpone next month's trial until a decision is made whether to impose a half-percent sales tax that voters rejected Nov. 2.
The tax, which generates roughly $14 million annually for county departments, expires Dec. 31. To trim costs, Sheriff Randall A. Wellington already has laid off 31 intermittent full-time deputies who earn $10.91 per hour.
He said he plans to lay off 120 full-time deputies and four or five civilians Dec. 19. Their salary range is $12.13 to $18.09 per hour. Anyone hired after Sept. 22, 1994, likely will be laid off.
Akron lawyers Robert P. Armbruster and Thomas Kelley filed the pending civil rights lawsuit Nov. 14, 2003, alleging unsafe and crowded conditions at the jail. They won a similar lawsuit in the early 1990s that resulted in a federal consent decree governing the inmate-to-staff ratio; the decree was lifted in November 2001.
Lawyers' request
After defeat of the tax this month, the Akron lawyers requested a status conference with U.S. District Judge David D. Dowd in Akron federal court. The lawyers said going to trial Dec. 13 as planned and seeking injunctive relief would be futile for all concerned because of the changing economic climate and the resulting cuts in programs and staffing at the jail.
Columbus lawyers Daniel T. Downey and Mark Landes represent Mahoning County, Wellington and Commissioners David Ludt, Edward Reese and Vicki Allen Sherlock. Downey and Landes maintain that the jail has been operated under standards that "eclipse any and all constitutional requirements."
The Columbus lawyers joined in the request for a status conference.
Downey's motion points out that commissioners voted Nov. 18 to hold public hearings regarding imposition of the "criminal justice tax" for fiscal 2005. He said the process will delay any additional layoffs until the hearings are completed and commissioners determine whether to impose the tax.
Downey said the earliest the public hearings may be held are Dec. 13 and Dec. 17. He said that in light of the potential changes in staffing, it would not be beneficial to the court or the parties to try the case in December.
Judge Dowd scheduled a conference for this afternoon in his chambers with both sides.
Points of discussion
Armbruster and Kelley said they want to discuss:
UMoving the trial to spring 2005.
UFiling a temporary restraining order to keep jail staff on duty.
UA consent agreement that will allow for operation of the jail at a reduced staffing level. The agreement would necessitate a locally approved release mechanism reducing the jail population but keeping dangerous inmates incarcerated with a staffing level that assures inmate and staff safety.
Judge Dowd invited U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott to attend the status conference, saying "as we housed a number of defendants awaiting trial it seems you would wish to be present at the status conference." The jail typically holds 90 to 100 federal detainees.
As of Monday, the jail had 713 inmates, 218 more than it did in October 1999, the last time deputy layoffs resulted in empty cells.
Back then, Wellington had been in office only two months when confronted with the need to cut his budget. Voters had rejected a half-percent sales tax in November 1997 but general fund reserves weren't depleted until nearly two years later.
In October 1999, the sheriff cut 91 deputies and 10 civilian employees. A month later, the half-percent tax reappeared on the ballot and passed for a five-year term. This is the tax that expires Dec. 31 that voters chose not to renew.
Five years ago, the jail population was 495. When the layoffs hit, it was cut to 242, with the provision that 24 more inmates could be housed temporarily to allow weekend bookings.
At the time, the sheriff was constrained by the federal consent decree that governed the inmate-to-staff ratio.