Strict sheriff enjoys his job

He introduced chain gangs to his inmates and is cracking down on immigration.
HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) -- Lawman Richard K. Jones is walking tall these days.
The 6-foot-1, 270-pound sheriff has cut a high profile in his first 11 months on the job. From putting jail inmates on chain gangs to leading an audacious emergency relief convoy to coastal Mississippi within days of Hurricane Katrina, Jones was already making headlines before he helped launch a crackdown last month on illegal immigration in southwest Ohio's Butler County.
"Our jail had become a real nice place to come to," he explained of his first moves.
Jones took away inmates' cable TV, fed problem inmates bland "wardenburgers" with only bread and water, and reached back into a controversial part of American law-enforcement past by chaining inmates together with leg irons on outdoor work gangs.
Tough reputation
An Arizona sheriff, Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, has used chain gangs for the past decade, but other efforts to bring them back were dropped. When Jones began using them, it drew global news media coverage, as has the immigration push. Jones enjoys the attention and loves it when he hears himself called "the toughest sheriff in America."
Jones has a thick club in his office, near his poster of John Wayne and a humidor laden with cigars. But he is more than the Buford Pusser of Butler County.
His three college degrees include a master's in corrections from Xavier University; he has taught at local colleges, co-wrote a book on corrections, and draws inspiration from the writings of Sun Tzu, an ancient Chinese military strategist.
If his actions seem brash and publicity-minded, they're carefully calculated.
Participation in the chain gangs is voluntary, for example, and interviews with women on a gang one recent afternoon found that they enjoy the chance to get out of the jail and do something productive. And, Jones said, they're cleaning up tons of litter.
"It's good to get outdoors, and it's good for the community," said Wendy Yarbrough, 37, serving time for a probation violation.
Happily in charge
Part of a family in which nearly everyone works in corrections or law enforcement, Jones was elected sheriff last November after 12 years as chief deputy. He relishes being in charge.
"When you've been a subordinate your whole career, you don't get to make the final decision; you have to tone it down somewhat," he said. "But as sheriff, your boss is your constituents -- you get hired and fired every four years.
"I don't like being told 'no.' To me, 'no' means maybe."
Critics such as the American Civil Liberties Union say Jones is grandstanding, playing to the cameras.
"This is political posturing," Jeff Gamso, the ACLU's Ohio legal director, said of Jones' plans on immigration. "This is a show, and it's publicity."
Fine with him.
"What they're for, I'm usually against. Whatever they're against, I'm usually for," Jones said.
'Very charismatic'
Besides his more-publicized moves, Jones has built a cold-case squad that's solved decades-old crimes and is working with the Social Security Administration in a pilot program to suspend benefits to jail inmates. He has bolstered his staff with outside recruitment.
"He's very charismatic, and he's doing things that maybe other people are afraid to," said one of the recruits, Maj. Jerry Geier, who came here from Osceola County, Fla.
Geier, who was in the middle of three Florida hurricanes last year, helped Jones set up a convoy of five truckloads of supplies to Gulfport, Miss., that arrived there within five days of Katrina and before any major federal relief.
"When you're watching TV and you see people, Americans, crying and begging for help, you just want to jump into the TV and help them," Jones explained.
While he has a photo of himself with President George W. Bush, the Republican says he gives the president "an F-minus on Katrina and an F-minus on immigration." Ohio Republican Gov. Bob Taft gets "an F-minus on everything."
Jones likes to move fast. He's got some new initiatives ready for next year but doesn't want to tip his hand yet.
"Being sheriff is an awful lot of fun," he said with a grin.