By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
As of Tuesday morning, there were four female inmates assigned to cots at the Wood County jail. That kind of arrangement is far from ideal in the jail business – especially if a lockdown is required.
So on Tuesday, Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn was back in front of the county commissioners asking for support to expand the women’s area of the jail for an estimated cost of $8 million to $9 million.
“No one wants to spend money on jails. I get it,” the sheriff said. But it’s his job to make sure the facility is a clean, safe and healthy place for inmates and staff.
“I don’t ask for something unless we need it,” Wasylyshyn said to the commissioners.
The county jail currently has the capacity to hold 220 inmates. The average there on any given day is 165.
But the number of female inmates continues to increase. The jail can currently house 56 females. That number would increase to 78 with the expansion, and perhaps as high as 110 if a universal dorm area is added, explained, Capt. Rebecca McMonigal from the jail.
The expansion of the women’s area would also help provide 14 more spaces for males in the secure housing section.
Wasylyshyn reminded the county commissioners that when he took over as sheriff in 2005, the county was spending about $500,000 a year housing local inmates in other jails because Wood County didn’t have enough room.
The estimated cost to expand and fix all the issues at the jail at that point was set at $25 million – more than the county could cover.
So Wasylyshyn proposed a more modest expansion that took care of the need to ship prisoners elsewhere.
“Let’s plug the hole and stop sending $500,000 to other counties,” he recalled saying.
Safety issues were addressed and extra space was added.
“It did better than stop the money going out,” Wasylyshyn said. It resulted in lot of money coming in.
Last year, the jail took in $400,000 from other counties needing to house their inmates here for $65 a day. Some come from as far as Jackson County, which is four hours away. It’s likely even more will be brought in this year, the sheriff said. That revenue should help pay off the bill for the expansion.
But for now, the Wood County jail is turning away females if they require secure housing.
“It’s a national problem,” Wasylyshyn said of the need for more female inmate space.
Housing inmates on cots does not allow options to separate them in cases of mental health issues, medical needs, personality conflicts or if inmates are co-defendants in the same case.
Though the expansion comes with a big price tag, it won’t result in the need for more staff, the sheriff told the commissioners. By designing the space to use “line of sight” security by existing staff, “we don’t have to hire a single deputy,” he said.
Wasylyshyn and McMonigal also pointed out that by moving exercise equipment into housing units, the existing gym can be used as a classroom for GED, AA or mental health programs. And inmates won’t have to be moved around to meet exercise requirements.
“The less inmate movement we have, the better,” the sheriff said.
Wood County Commissioner Ted Bowlus asked Wasylyshyn and McMonigal to come back with a list of benefits with the expansion. They agreed to do so.
“In the meantime, we have females on cots,” the sheriff said. While the jail has been fortunate to not have any safety incidents due to the lack of female housing, the authorities who inspect the facility don’t approve of cots being used for inmates.
“We’ll get dinged on that,” Wasylyshyn said.
Wasylyshyn vowed that this would be the last time he would ask the commissioners for support of a jail expansion.
“This will get us where we need to be,” he said.
“We’ve been in the jail business since 1820. We’re going to be in the jail business a lot longer,” he said. The proposed expansion will be designed for future expansion – but it won’t be his problem then, the sheriff said.
Wood County Commissioner Doris Herringshaw asked about future projections for revenue from other counties short on their own jail space. At this point, only Franklin and Cuyahoga counties are even close to jail expansions, McMonigal said.
“It is a need and nobody is talking about expansion,” she said.
The commissioners inquired about the costs of caring for more inmates. The sheriff said most of the expenses are fixed, aside from the minimal cost of about $2.90 per meal.
Toledo is continuing to contract with the Wood County jail for 10 beds a month.
“That’s been a win-win,” Wasylyshyn said.
And the jail is frequently used as an overnight stop for buses carrying prisoners cross-country.
“We’re trying to really run it like a business,” he said.
The commissioners also asked if Wood County would need to house some of its prisoners elsewhere during expansion work on the jail.
McMonigal said the architect is aware that the jail needs to maintain operations during construction.
“We don’t have any intention of sending people out during this construction,” she said.
