Tuesday, October 26, 2004
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LEETONIA -- A nearly $1 million profit made by CiviGenics the past three years for operating the county jail is money that could have stayed in the county, John Soldano said.
Soldano, Leetonia police chief and Democratic candidate for Columbiana County sheriff, is looking for alternatives to outsourcing operation of the county jail run by CiviGenics, a Massachusetts-based private company that has operated the lockup since 1988.
One solution he suggested is creation of an independent, nonprofit panel that would oversee the jail's operation. Then any profit would stay in the county, he said.
Soldano said county attorneys use a similar system to provide public defenders to people in need of representation in criminal matters.
The jail charges the county about $48 per person per day, or about $2.1 million a year.
Interest generated
Soldanio said his public-records request last week generated interest among potential voters he encountered while campaigning over the weekend, and taxpayers have the right to know if privatization has saved the county money.
From information Soldano received after a public records request to commissioners, he said CiviGenics reported $10.8 million in revenue and $9.9 million in expenses for 2002 to 2004.
Soldano said he wanted more detailed information than commissioners supplied, including line-item reports rather than a budget summary.
He said he wants information both he and taxpayers can use to be informed about jail operations.
He said Columbiana County is the only Ohio county that outsources jail operations. If other counties can locally manage their jail operations, Columbiana County should be able to do so, too, he added.
tullis@vindy.com