Trumbull corrections officer to be disciplined for releasing wrong prisoner

Staff report

WARREN

A corrections officer will be disciplined for failing to confirm the identity of the prisoner she erroneously released Friday.

Maj. Dan Mason, jail administrator for the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office, said Monday the employee skipped a step in the protocol for releasing a prisoner.

A man came to the jail at 2 a.m. to post bond for Andrea Gintert. He spoke into an intercom at the locked front entrance to the jail.

The corrections officer he spoke with thought he said he was there to post bond for Amber Skinner. He prepared Skinner for release.

Gintert is 36, of Bristolville. Skinner is 39, of Leavittsburg.

A second corrections officer went to the front entrance to take the payment for the bond. Protocol requires the corrections officer to confirm the identity of the person being released, which she did not do.

The process does not require written confirmation of the person’s identity, but a face-to-face conversation is more reliable than speaking through an intercom, Mason said.

The intercom involved is about 25 years old and is one many at the jail being replaced because it is outdated, Mason said. The jail is also getting new door locks and other improved technology. The upgrades were announced several months ago.

Skinner, who was being held for failure to pay fines and costs on misdemeanor child endangering, was arrested without incident about six hours later. Gintert was released about 4:30 a.m.

Mason said individuals are only allowed to post bond after hours for individuals charged with misdemeanor, nonviolent crimes.