Toledo commits to nearly $1.1M payment to regional jail

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Toledo is paying most of a $1.4 million bill it owes to a northwest Ohio regional jail that previously warned it could be forced to close without the money, the city’s mayor says.

The nearly $1.1 million payment averts what officials with the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio, near Stryker, say would be catastrophic consequences for the 638-bed facility if it doesn’t receive the funds.

Without the city money for the 228 beds used by inmates sentenced out of Toledo’s municipal court, the jail would have only enough funding to operate through Dec. 1, officials say.

Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson said Wednesday the partial payment will cover the city’s share of the regional jail operation through Dec. 13 and the city intends to come up with the rest of the money owed to the jail, The Blade newspaper reported.