MAHONING COUNTY JAIL Mediator: Proposed solutions look good

The sheriff said that a reduced staff means more overtime.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The federally appointed special master seeking solutions to overcrowding at the Mahoning County jail has expressed optimism in proposals made by county officials.
Toledo attorney Vincent M. Nathan said in a letter to U.S. District Judge David D. Dowd Jr. that the working group of officials has accomplished an enormous amount since first meeting on Aug. 23. The working group was created to identify problems at all levels of the criminal justice system and to propose or implement solutions.
"I can only express my admiration for the efforts of the working group to date," Nathan said in his letter to the judge on Monday.
The working group submitted an interim report Oct. 3; another interim report is due by Nov. 15 and a remedial plan in place by year's end.
Nathan didn't formally evaluate the interim report, saying the group has not yet spelled out a complete remedial plan.
Fact finder
Nathan is acting as a fact finder for Judge Dowd, who is taking steps to make the overcrowded and understaffed jail constitutionally sound. The Akron judge, in response to a inmate class-action lawsuit in March, has capped the main jail population at 296; it can hold 564.
Nathan noted that efforts to keep the jail population at 296 have been unsuccessful, with overages of 30 to 40 inmates in recent weeks. He said the situation required the opening of a housing pod in the south tower without additional security staff.
The sheriff's department laid off deputies when it had its 2005 budget slashed after a half-cent sales tax failed last year. Commissioners then allocated more than $7 million to the department, giving it roughly $14 million, about the same as what it spent in 2004.
Sheriff Randall A. Wellington, in an exhibit filed with the working group, said his department is spending almost the same as it did last year but with fewer employees, 206 versus 223. He said money is being spent for overtime, contracted pay increases, increases in hospitalization, utility costs and other line items.
What group recommends
The working group's proposals to alleviate overcrowding include not housing juveniles, parole violators and nonsupport offenders. The group has also proposed opening two housing pods at the main jail on Fifth Avenue and allocating a certain number of cells to municipal and county courts and charging them a daily rate of $68.
Another suggestion is to reopen the misdemeanant jail on Commerce Street and charge the lower courts the daily rate of $38 for sentenced misdemeanants.
Nathan said the swiftest relief to the lack of bed space at the main jail would be a contract with Youngstown. He said some arrangement for a reasonable allocation of beds to outlying county and municipal courts will be necessary.
Nathan, in his letter to Judge Dowd, said the working group has collected a wealth of information relevant to short- and long-term solutions. The special master said the exhibits submitted by the group reflect complete candor and a willingness to confront the magnitude of the problems the county faces.
He said one major result to improve the efficiency of the common pleas courts was commissioners' authorization to hire five assistant county prosecutors and approve raises for those already on staff in order to retain career prosecutors. He said this promises to be a significant element of an overall remedial plan.