In May, Governor Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) Director Annette Chambers-Smith announced recipients of grant funding through Ohio’s Jail Safety and Security Program.
Five counties received funding including Jackson County and Adams County. Adams County received $21,611,312 to support the construction of a new jail, according to release from ODRC. The release states the project will increase the numbers of beds in the jail and provide additional beds for males females with special needs.
Jackson County received $32,818178 to support the construction of a multi-county jail that will serve Jackson County, Lawrence County and Pike County.
Pike County was not funded for a stand alone jail or a to construct a multi-county jail in Pike County through this program.
The Pike County Commissioners logged many hours getting information to the state and thought they would be a likely candidate to receive funding for a stand-alone jail.
The questions becomes, “Can Pike County afford to operate it?” So the commissioners again worked tirelessly trying to find a donor that would have funding available to operate a jail.
“The biggest challenge with jails is ongoing operational expense to run them,” Commissioner Jerry Miller said at the Monday, June 3 meeting of the Pike County Commissioners.
Another avenue pursued by the commissioners was asking quite a few other counties with stand alone jails about the operation and costs of operations.
“We are unaware, to date, of any success story with a stand alone jail that doesn’t have the capacity to rent beds out to produce revenue,” Miller said during a February discussion about constructing a stand alone jail in Pike County. “Our issue is and has been and will be for the foreseeable future is the ability to finance the operation of a jail.
“Right now, Pike County’s challenge, especially with HB33, because we know we’re a good candidate, is if (the state) gives us $50 million to build a jail, we can’t afford to run it.”
With the numbers provided to the state by Pike County and the numbers given to Pike County by the state, the county is $1.2 million short on funds it would take to operate a jail.
Commissioner Jeff Chattin said, in February, having a jail in Pike County would make the Pike County Sheriff’s Department much more efficient, but economically it’s more feasible to transport prisoners than it is to build a jail and come up with the $1.2 million it will take to operate it.
According to Chattin (in February), Pike County has a very competitive rate with the Fayette County Jail that houses Pike County inmates for $67 a night.
“That’s what we’re comparing everything to,” Chattin added. “Fayette County is 45 miles up there, but it’s a good road and you can zip up there pretty quickly. We just don’t want to become a part of a bigger problem.”
Other counties that received funding through this program include Morrow County, Meigs County and Wyandot County.
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