Mahoning County jail crisis must be resolved peacefully

Let us stipulate the following: Mahoning County government has a recession-induced fiscal crisis that has necessitated major belt-tightening across the board; the city of Youngstown has a crime problem that has required a get-tough-on-criminals stance by the executive and judicial branches of government.

Then, let us also stipulate that the last thing taxpayers of Mahoning County want to witness is a legal battle being waged by the two local governments. Residents didn’t approve the renewal of the 0.5 percent sales tax earlier this month so city and county officials could lock horns in the courts over the housing of prisoners in the county jail.

The threat by Youngstown Municipal Court Judge Elizabeth Kobly to file a motion with the Ohio Supreme Court to stop Sheriff Randall Wellington from releasing any misdemeanor prisoners sentenced by her and her colleagues, Robert A. Douglas Sr. and Robert Milich, only exacerbates an already explosive situation.

On Tuesday, three federal judges who were overseeing the operation of the county jail allowed a consent decree that dealt with staffing and prisoner population to expire. The decree was issued after inmates successfully sued the county over jail crowding.

Sheriff Wellington, whose operating budget of $11.8 million is about $6 million less than what he spent last year, has closed the minimum security misdemeanor jail, has issued 88 layoff notices and will be shutting down half the main county jail. As a result, the inmate capacity is expected to drop from a maximum of 602 to 252.

It is this anticipated reduction that has Judge Kobly and Youngstown Law Director Iris Guglucello up in arms. While they can offer persuasive arguments for incarceration being the most effective crime-fighting weapon in the city’s war on crime, they should recognize that the national economic collapse has forced governments at all levels to be creative in the way they deliver necessary services.

No extra funds

There’s no way the county commissioners can give the sheriff all the money he needs to operate the jail at full capacity and at maximum manpower and still provide the other services mandated by the state and federal governments. The money just isn’t there.

In 2006, with a special master appointed by the federal court overseeing the jail, the Mahoning County Criminal Justice Working Group was created and charged with addressing the myriad problems affecting law enforcement agencies, the prosecutor’s office, the courts and the jail.

The group filed four reports with the federal court, with the final one containing an operational plan.

The current battle over the jail requires the involvement of either the same criminal justice working group, or a similar one.

The question that needs an objective answer is this: To what extent is the community at risk if individuals convicted of misdemeanors are given alternative sentences, such as house arrest or day reporting, instead of jail terms?