Police chiefs running for county sheriff’s office

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Raymond Stone

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John Soldano

By D.A. Wilkinson

A Democrat challenges Raymond Stone, named sheriff earlier this year.

LISBON — An appointed Columbiana County sheriff will face a police chief who has twice run for the post.

Raymond Stone was named the sheriff earlier this year by county Republicans after former Sheriff David Smith could not run again. Smith was barred from running because of a drunken-driving conviction and later resigned to work in security at a West Virginia casino.

Stone had been the Perry Township police chief for many years.

Democrat John Soldano, the longtime police chief in Leetonia, ran for the sheriff’s post in 2000 and 2004.

Both men would be moving from small departments to being the chief law enforcement official in the county.

Since taking office, Stone said, “I’ve been researching aspects of the job.”

He said he discovered that 2,700 warrants have not been served. He said he would like to add a deputy to help ease the backload.

Crime tied to drugs has been increasing, he added.

To free time, he had deputies enter only important reports into a complicated and time-consuming federal reporting system. Minor complaints, such as ones about barking dogs, are quickly entered in the sheriff’s office log.

He also plans to continue road patrols even in rural areas. “People have a right to be protected,” he said.

Crime also is on the rise in the county, he said. “The economy goes south and starts people turning to alcohol or drugs,” Stone said.

Soldano said he is concerned that the sheriff’s office would not get full financial support.

In recent years, the commissioners have doled out money to offices to stay within county revenues.

Soldano said that he wanted to add more deputies to road patrols.

There are about 20 unsolved homicides, some decades old, in the county. “It’s a hot topic,” he said.

Soldano said he would work with the county drug task force, federal authorities and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.

“I’m not against getting outside help,” he said.

Citing the county’s tight budget, Soldano said, “We have to do something. The new sheriff has to be creative.”

The jail is run by a private company. Four prisoners recently escaped from the jail but were quickly recaptured. Soldano said there had been a suicide in the jail and other problems.

Soldano said he would like to see what could be done to address the jail’s problems and whether there would be enough funds that would allow the jail to again be placed under the sheriff’s control.

wilkinson@vindy.com