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| New jail rules will mandate staff additions |
| By newsandsentinel.com - KEVIN PIERSON |
| Published: 05/22/2012 |
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MARIETTA, OH -- The Washington County Sheriff's Office will need to hire four additional corrections officers for the county jail to comply with the new recommended minimum standards established by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The department lowered the ratio of corrections officers to inmates to 3.5-to-1 beginning on May 12. Previously the recommended minimum standard was 4.2-to-1. Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks was in Columbus on Wednesday and Thursday for training on the new standards, and said the move came after a three-year study, including interviews at jails across the state. "This has to do with the safety of the officers and the safety of the inmates," Mincks explained. There are 23 corrections officers at the county jail, with one position in the process of being filled for a total of 24. There are four shifts of six officers each. Under the new guidelines, the 124-bed county jail would need 28 officers. Since January 2011, the Washington County Jail has had seven incidents where officers were assaulted and 34 reports of inmates fighting. There were 53 times that a restraint chair was used. Additional staff and officer presence is expected to reduce those numbers, jail officials said. "I think we've needed more people for quite a long time," said Lt. Ben Arnold, a shift supervisor at the jail. When an inmate is processed into the jail for the first time, it requires at least three different corrections officers to meet them at some point, Arnold explained. Corrections officers are responsible for searching and fingerprinting inmates when they come into the jail. Officers also must make sure inmates shower and take them to the dorm. Read More. |
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