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Fight over jail to go on
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
YOUNGSTOWN
The federal court battle over conditions in Mahoning County jail will continue as the clock ticks toward the May 17 expiration of a three-year consent decree that settled a class-action lawsuit by inmates concerning jail crowding.
One of the inmates’ lawyers, Thomas Kelley of Akron, has told U.S. District Court Judge Dan Aaron Polster in Cleveland that he plans to file a motion alleging that the county is in contempt of the consent decree, which requires that the jail be fully open and staffed and prescribes numerous other requirements for its operation.
Notice of that motion was contained in an order from Judge Polster that immediately followed a 15-minute Friday telephone status conference among Kelley, lawyers for the county and Youngstown, Judge Polster, and a law clerk for U.S. District Judge David D. Dowd Jr., to whom the case was initially assigned.
Judge Polster ordered the inmates’ lawyers to file their motion by next Friday and the county to file its response by April 23.
Judge Polster said the court expects to rule based on those filings and without having a hearing and that the court will try to rule before May 17.
In an interview, Kelley said he’ll allege in his motion that the jail’s deputy sheriffs lack sufficient continuing professional education, that the sheriff sometimes fails to fill all required jail staff positions round-the-clock, that inmates don’t get outdoor recreation frequently enough, and that jail building maintenance is inadequate.
Because of the county’s recession-induced financial crisis, Sheriff Randall Wellington had initially announced plans to close half the jail and lay off one- third of his staff March 28, but he rescinded the layoff notices just before that date as the city and county continued their attempts to negotiate an agreement concerning jail operations and funding.
An agreement between the city and county concerning an ongoing financial contribution from the city toward county jail operations is unlikely, and it’s likely the consent decree will be allowed to expire as scheduled, said Anthony J. Farris, deputy Youngstown law director, who participated in Friday’s conference call.
An agreement, under which the city paid the county $80 a day for each city misdemeanor inmate in the county jail after its 71st inmate, expired in February.
The city maintains that it’s the county’s obligation to provide for the housing of all prisoners charged or convicted under Ohio law, either in its jail or elsewhere, Farris said.
After the federal court consent decree expires, Farris said: “The likely scenario is that we’re just going to litigate that in state court.”
Wellington declined to comment because he hasn’t seen Kelley’s motion.