Jail population becomes a city concern

YOUNGSTOWN — When the city finalized a deal in March on what it would pay to house its prisoners at the Mahoning County jail, Mayor Jay Williams said city officials would closely monitor the number of city inmates there.

That’s because the agreement called for the county to house the first 71 city misdemeanor prisoners free, except for the cost of the inmates’ meals (about $3 a day) and medical costs not covered by the county’s insurance.

Beginning with the 72nd city misdemeanor inmate through Youngstown’s maximum amount of 221 at the jail, the cost to the city would be $68.84 per person.

For the past two weeks, the number of city inmates in the county jail has exceeded the 71 number by about 25 each day, according to Sheriff Randall Wellington and Major James Lewandowski, the jail warden.

For more, see Wednesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com