County judges seeking meeting

The judges say their support for a proposed jail agreement 'cannot be assumed.'
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County Area Court judges say they lack details about the pending Mahoning County jail occupancy agreement and want to meet with Prosecutor Paul J. Gains this weekend if possible.
Judge Scott D. Hunter, administrative/presiding judge for the area courts, sent a letter to Gains asking that a meeting take place this weekend or by Wednesday at the latest.
The Vindicator obtained a copy of the letter Friday.
The Mahoning County Jail, deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge two years ago, proposes to operate at full capacity by housing 150 federal detainees at a daily rate of 68.84 per inmate.
Gains' jail-occupancy agreement, approved by county commissioners and pending city council approval Wednesday, allots 71 jail beds (on May 1) to Youngstown Municipal Court prisoners at a minimal daily cost. If Youngstown municipal judges want to use more jail space, the agreement (as of Aug. 1) gives them the ability to max out at 221 beds. The city would pay the daily going rate of 68.84 for each of the 150 extra beds.
No guarantees for county
The agreement contains no jail bed guarantee for Mahoning County Area Court judges.
Once an agreement is signed by local officials and approved by a federal judge, the main jail on Fifth Avenue will hold 480 inmates and the misdemeanant jail on Commerce Street, closed for two years, will house 96 inmates.
Making 221 beds available to Youngstown Municipal Court prisoners amounts to nearly 40 percent of the jail capacity.
Judge Hunter, meanwhile, wrote Gains "to express concern over the lack of communication relative to" the pending jail agreement.
The four judges "feel that it is imperative that we be advised as to the status of said agreement and how it will relate to our ability to incarcerate sentenced defendants," he wrote.
Judge Hunter, who sits on the Canfield bench, said in the letter that the area court judges' support for any proposed resolution "cannot be assumed, particularly if we do not have any idea where things stand."
The judges understand the tremendous pressure the situation has placed on all parties but they are not exempt from the same pressure, Judge Hunter wrote.
Aside from Judge Hunter, the letter to Gains was signed by Judge Joseph M. Houser, Boardman court; Judge Diane Vettori, Sebring court; and Judge David A. D'Apolito, Austintown court.