Youngstown council approves funding for video arraignments

YOUNGSTOWN — A new $22,000 video-arraignment system for the Youngstown Municipal Court will be up and running Monday.

That’s the day the Mahoning County sheriff’s department will stop providing video-arraignment services at the county jail for city prisoners.

Sheriff Randall Wellington blames insufficient staffing and inadequate funding for the move.

One funding source — billing Youngstown for inmate stays for those charged solely under city ordinances — has been untapped for the past two years, however.

As county officials review records for the past two years, it appears confusion is the reason the city hasn’t been billed for what is estimated to be about $350,000.

City council agreed tonight to use $22,000 from the municipal court’s computerization fund to hire SKC Communications Products LLC of Shawnee Mission, Kan., for the video-arraignment system. That court fund gets its money from assessments added to court fines.

For the complete story, read Thursday's Vindicator and Vindy.com