Photo

Photo by: Robert K. Yosay

Mahoning County Deputy Sheriff Stephanie Harchar stands guard as Artis Walton is video-arraigned from the county jail on a criminal-trespass charge. Brenda Rider, sitting next to Walton, is a Youngstown Municipal Court bailiff who took notes. Walton, who pleaded innocent, was one of seven inmates to be video-arraigned Monday.

By Peter H. Milliken

milliken@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The cancellation of video arraignments early next month is a small part of a much- larger Mahoning County jail staffing problem, which jeopardizes security and adherence to minimum-lockup standards, according to deputy sheriffs and jail management.

In June 2010, 114 deputies were assigned to the jail, but that number has dropped to 91 today due to budget cuts, layoffs and retirements, as the prisoner population has increased 23 percent, Maj. Alki Santamas said Monday.

“Other posts in the jail are being shortchanged to conduct video arraignments. The reason is we’re short staffed,” Santamas said.

When he announced last week the termination of video arraignments, effective Feb. 6, Sheriff Randall Wellington said 23 of 34 laid-off deputies must be recalled to properly staff the jail, even if two inmate housing units in the main jail and the entire minimum-security jail are kept closed.

Recalling 23 deputies would add $1.1 million to his $14.1 million budget this year, the sheriff said.

If video arraignments end, city police will have to physically transport inmates from jail to municipal court for arraignment. Municipal Judge Elizabeth Kobly said she is alarmed at the prospect of security problems in her crowded court when that happens.

“We are moving forward to conduct arraignments back at the city” court, said Youngstown Police Chief Rod Foley. “When the plan is finalized, a dollar amount can be determined” for extra costs for the police department and court security personnel for in-person inmate arraignments at the municipal court, he said.

“We are still hopeful the [county] commissioners and sheriff can find a solution,” he added.

Based on his Monday discussions with Santamas, John A. McNally IV, chairman of the county commissioners, said he is optimistic about reaching a solution that would allow video arraignments to continue while ensuring deputy safety. McNally declined to elaborate, however.

The sheriff said deputies now assigned to video arraignments must be used elsewhere in the jail to perform other tasks, such as relieving other deputies during breaks and supervising the required inmate recreation.

With the minimum- security jail closed all year to overnight use, the main jail’s average population during 2011 was 445 inmates.

In a Monday news conference, Deputy Lisa Beam, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 141 secretary, rejected Judge Kobly’s suggestion that city police could supervise video arraignments inside the jail, saying the jail is Lodge 141’s jurisdiction, not that of city police.

The sheriff is not legally required to provide video arraignments, added Sgt. Thomas J. Assion, Lodge 141 president.

Assion acknowledged that an extra security burden is being imposed on city police by making them transport inmates to court for arraignment.

“They understand why we’re doing it,” Assion said, referring to the letter of support Lodge 141 received from the city police union.

Assion complained that, compared to other county departments, the sheriff’s department has been disproportionately hit with layoffs and concessions in recent years.

For years, the county commissioners have “balanced their budget on the backs of the sheriff’s office and the members of Lodge 141,” he said.

“I disagree that it’s been balanced on the backs of those men and women. We have other departments that still have layoffs, and the sheer number of employees in the sheriff’s department required cuts to be made there,” McNally said.

The sheriff’s department has about 300 employees out of the county’s total of about 1,800 employees, he added.

Rachel L. Livengood, county human resources director, said 19 county Job and Family Services workers are still on layoff with recall rights and that the recall rights of three laid-off county facilities workers expired earlier this month.

The jail recorded 27 assaults by inmates against deputies in 2010 and 23 in the first two-thirds of 2011. Forty-five of those 50 assaults occurred after the June 2010 deputy layoffs, Santamas said, adding that such assaults are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Santamas said staff shortages prevented him from providing The Vindicator on Monday with complete assault records for each of the last five years.

“We’ve gotten to the point where sometimes we’re locking these inmates down at 6:30 at night and they’re not getting out until 7:30 in the morning,” Assion said. “These inmates are supposed to be able to be out of their cells until 9:30 every night,” but insufficient staffing makes that impossible, he added.

Because of the jail-staffing shortage, the sheriff’s department also may also stop using deputies to escort inmates to county courts in Boardman, Canfield, Austintown and Sebring and begin requiring police department in those jurisdictions to make those trips, Santamas said.

Seven inmates were video arraigned from jail in about 20 minutes on Monday on charges ranging from criminal trespass to felonious assault, with Judge Kobly at the court end of the two-way video hookup.

Typically, 15 to 25 inmates are video arraigned on a Monday, with court having been out of session since Friday, said Brenda Rider, the municipal court bailiff on duty in the jail for video arraignments.

“It’s a necessary safe part of the criminal justice field,” Rider said of video arraignments. “This is the safest way to preserve their rights,” and reduce the chance of an emotional confrontation in court, she said of the inmates undergoing the video process.

Atty. Walter Ritchie was in the jail to represent inmates charged with felonies who did not have their own lawyers for the arraignment.