Southern Ohio county jail closes because of lock problems

GEORGETOWN, Ohio (AP) — A southern Ohio county has closed its jail because some of its doors won’t lock properly.

Brown County officials on Thursday decided to empty the jail, sending inmates some 60 miles to Butler County’s jail. The police union had filed a grievance citing an unsafe work environment because of malfunctioning cell door locks.

The sheriff’s office says three companies are submitting bids for fixing the door problem, but that the work could take three to six months. A statement from the sheriff’s office says that will mean layoffs of an undetermined number of jail employees.

The News Democrat newspaper of Georgetown reported female inmates had been moved last month from the jail, built in 1980. The sheriff’s office today didn’t release information on total number of inmates moved.