CIRCLEVILLE - While overcrowding is a serious problem in many jails and prisons nationwide, Pickaway County’s experience has been a little less severe.
For now.
Ohio has a new prisons law going into effect Oct. 1. That measure is designed to reduce state corrections populations by either placing the responsibility for incarcerating non-violent felons on county sheriffs or rehabilitation facilities, as well as relaxing sentencing guidelines for judges that could have some offenders avoid jail time altogether.
In recent weeks, the county jail’s male inmate population has been at capacity or slightly less. But it’s been a different story for the number of female offenders.
As of Monday, there were 23 female inmates in the county jail with only 16 beds available. The seven surplus prisoners are staying in a holding cell, a medical cell and outwaiting room, according to Dwight Radcliff, Pickaway County Sheriff.
The housing for five other female inmates is currently being outsourced to another facility, he said.
A recent drug sweep in Pickaway County resulted in a dozen women being arrested. That roundup is what threw the jail’s female population into crisis mode, Radcliff said.
“The drug sweeps are costly to the county,” said Glenn Reeser, county commission chairman. “It’s unbelievable how much impact those offenders place on the system.”
Of the 75 male prisoners in the county jail, 11 of them are federal inmates. The county recoups some of its expenses to house and feed those prisoners; the federal government pays $69 per day per prisoner.
Between April 16, 2010, and May 10, 2011, according to statistics provided by Radcliff, there were 29 male inmates who had to be housed in jails outside of Pickaway County due to shortage of beds.
The number of female offenders in the county within the past years created a greater housing shortage for Radcliff.
“Because there was no more space available, we have had to transport 78 female prisoners to other counties between Aug. 9, 2010, and July 21, 2011,” he noted.
Reeser said the county jail has had overcrowding issues during most of his seven years as a county commissioner.
“It seems we always have had to struggle with jail capacity,” he added.
One suggestion Radcliff has offered to the county commission would be to construct a dorm-style facility for the non-violent offenders, relieving beds in maximum-security buildings for inmates who have committed more serious crimes.
“A jail pod with a dormitory layout certainly would be cheaper to build,” said Reeser. “But any option is expensive if the funding isn’t available. We just don’t have the money to even consider construction costs, let along operating expenses, for a jail expansion.”
Reeser noted there is no short-term solution to jail overcrowding in Pickaway County.
“Even if the county had the money, it would take at least two years to draw up plans, award bids and build the facility,” he added. “(Jail overcrowding is) a real dilemma, and it’s something that will have to addressed in our budget meetings this year.”
The budget for the sheriff’s office is about 45 percent of the county’s general fund, Reeser explained. Out of a $12.7-million spending plan for Pickaway County this year, he noted, Radcliff’s department gets $5.7 million of that amount.
“The sheriff’s department is about $200,000 over budget already this year,” Reeser said. “Much of that overrun is due to the overtime his staff has to take to handle the workload.”
The present county jail was built in 1992 with money generated by a half-cent levy that voters approved a couple of years earlier. But Radcliff said the county commission of that time made a big mistake by limiting the levy proceeds for construction costs only.
“Other counties had operating expenses include in their jail levies,” he explained. “Our county commission at that time missed out on that one.”
Reeser commented, “I see no way to (fund a jail expansion) with the capital funds we have today. A levy is the only way the county could be able to afford building something like that.”
