Proposal would reduce jail cost

By David Skolnick

The city is on pace to spend about $1 million to house its inmates at the county jail.

YOUNGSTOWN — With the housing of prisoners at the Mahoning County Jail costing the city considerably more than expected, city council will consider legislation Wednesday to reduce that expense.

Mayor Jay Williams is asking council to adopt an ordinance allowing the city’s board of control to sign an agreement with Community Corrections Association Inc. to electronically monitor up to 50 of its indigent misdemeanor prisoners who’d serve time on house arrest.

CCA, a Youngstown-based nonprofit that provides alternative sentencing for those convicted of crimes, would monitor those prisoners for $3,500 a month with the contract expected to last for three to four months and begin Aug. 1.

The city would seek a long-term agreement for those services. CCA could do the work for about $70,000 a year, said Richard J. Billak, the agency’s chief executive officer. The $3,500 fee is a discounted rate with the hope that the city would hire CCA on a permanent basis after seeing how it operates for a few months, he said.

The cost of housing prisoners at the county jail has far exceeded the city’s estimate, said Anthony Farris, its deputy law director.

Youngstown City Council approved legislation in February 2007 to spend up to $125,000 annually to house city prisoners at the county jail. It was a key component of a consent agreement that ended a class-action lawsuit against the county by inmates in March 2005 regarding understaffing and overcrowding at the jail that violated their civil rights.

The agreement has the county housing the first 71 city misdemeanor prisoners for the cost of meals (about $1 each) 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 was $68.84 a person a day. That figure has now increased to $80 based on jail operating costs.

The city rarely exceeded the 71 figure until August 2007. Since then, the city has about 100 to 130 of its prisoners in the county jail daily. Many of those prisoners are in jail for driving under suspension or without a license, Farris said.

Youngstown Municipal Court judges have said they need the ability to put those who break the law in jail. None could be reached Monday to comment, but have discussed with city administration officials ways to resolve this issue.

The city paid $317,230 to the county last year to house its prisoners, considerably more than the $125,000 it had budgeted.

It’s only gotten worse.

The city has paid about $500,000 to the county to house prisoners so far this year. The city had budgeted $750,000 from its general fund for this specific purpose. The city’s general fund is ailing with $3.9 million worth of cuts needed this year to avoid a deficit.

At this rate, the city would spend more than $1 million to house its prisoners at the county jail, Farris said.

Because of that, the city went looking for a company to provide electronic monitoring for those who could serve sentences at their homes, Farris said.

CCA emerged as the least expensive and most reliable option, he said.

CCA currently monitors about 50 people in the county on house arrest, Billak said. That figure includes about 30 convicted of crimes in Youngstown who can afford the cost of house arrest, about $10 to $15 a day.

The sheriff’s department has urged the city in the past to take the steps necessary to reduce the number of prisoners it has at the county jail.

Sheriff Randall Wellington, a former Youngstown police chief, said he’s pleased to hear the city is working to reduce its inmate population at the jail.

“It will be a break for the city,” he said of the CCA proposal.

Whatever beds not filled by city inmates can be used to house federal prisoners under a deal the county has with the U.S. Marshals office, Wellington said.

If the CCA deal is successful, it would significantly reduce the city’s inmate population at the county jail and save the city about $1 million, Farris said.

skolnick@vindy.com