Security screens for jail OK’d

By SEAN BARRON

news@vindy.com

BOARDMAN

As part of an effort to continue complying with a federal consent decree, Mahoning County commissioners have approved an agreement to buy and install security screens for outdoor recreation areas at the county jail.

During their meeting Wednesday at the Mahoning County Board of Developmental Disabilities workshop, 825 Bev Road, commissioners entered into the agreement with Murphy Contracting Co. of Akron to enhance security at the jail by adding the screens, estimated at $34,000.

“We’re obligated to do this” by U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster, said Anthony T. Traficanti, chairman of the commissioners. “We’re forced to do it.”

The move is in obeying terms of the consent decree, which requires the jail to be fully staffed and open. The three-year decree, part of a response to a lawsuit inmates won related to jail crowding, expires May 17.

Another lawsuit could result if the county violates the decree, Traficanti added.

Earlier this month, Sheriff Randall Wellington announced a plan to lay off one-third of his staff and close about half of the facility March 28 in response to the county’s budget problems. Nevertheless, such cuts have been put on hold as Youngstown and county officials try to work out an agreement regarding jail operations.

Last week, city and county officials, along with lawyers for inmates who won the suit, met in Judge Polster’s chambers to try to come up with such an agreement.

The screens also should increase security provided by fences that surround the recreation areas. That should make it more difficult, for example, to sneak in drugs and other contraband, Traficanti said.

The commissioner said he was unsure how many screens would be installed.