TRUMBULL COUNTY Sheriff expects 11 jailers to return, reopen minimum security section

One commissioner says spending the money now is a bad idea.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Sheriff Thomas L. Altiere has permission to bring back 11 Trumbull County Jail workers so that a section of the lockup can reopen, getting some inmates off cots on the floor.
Altiere said Tuesday that the so-called minimum security jail can be reopened. That's a misnomer, he explained, in that it is no longer just for minimum security.
He said the 11 employees are expected to be back on the job Sunday.
Commissioner James Tsagaris said he didn't feel it is a good idea at this time to spend the money. It's important to make sure the county can finish out the year in the black, he said.
Tsagaris also expressed concern that the sheriff's department might have a more urgent need to purchase patrol cars than hire back employees.
County Commissioner Dan Polivka called Altiere late last week with verbal permission for the rehiring, Altiere said.
Commissioner Paul Heltzel said he agreed with Polivka on the action, noting he was concerned about the conditions at the jail during an annual jail inspection today.
Top priority
Altiere said the patrol cars are lower than the employees on his priority list.
"They're all anxious to get back to work," Altiere said of the 11, saying they have been on layoff since about February, and their unemployment benefits have run out.
The county made the layoffs before two quarter percent sales tax increases went into effect on July 1. Altiere said last month he thought he had 22 or 23 employees on layoff.
Because of the additional sales taxes, a budget commission meeting was held last month in which county officials certified that $3.6 million in new money would be available to finish out the year.
Most of that money, county officials said, would go to cover payroll of county departments that overspent their budget amounts, including the sheriff's department.
Altiere said that Sunday is a good day for return of the 11 employees because it is quiet on that day, with no court appearances by inmates.
Jailers will also then be able to move inmates from the cots on the floor, where some now sleep, to bunks in the minimum security jail section.
Safety in question
In a letter to commissioners last month, Altiere said the placement of inmates on cots on the floor was a hazard to jailers as well as possibly unsafe to the inmates. It spawned a grievance by the jail workers and an unfavorable grand jury report, Altiere said.
The sheriff said inspection by the Ohio Department of Adult Corrections likely will bring questions about the safety of the jail. Now that there is a commitment to fix the problem, the inspection should not be a problem, he said.
Altiere's letter, dated Sept. 12, asked for 13 employees be returned from layoff for the jail at a cost of $210,000. It also asked that a limited road division be reinstated to patrol unincorporated areas of the county at a cost of $80,000.
Heltzel said he and Polivka felt the primary need right now is for the 11 jailers, not 13 and not the road patrol.
Altiere said he was told the commissioners will take formal action during their Thursday meeting to approve the jailers' return.
runyan@vindy.com