- WEEKLY POLL
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Sheriff Bratton asks
Will state money problems
hit county jails?
By Larry Limpf
News Editor
news@presspublications.com
Ottawa County Sheriff Robert Bratton foresees possible major financial problems for sheriffs departments throughout Ohio and wants to make the public aware of his concerns.
The sheriff is dedicating part of his department’s monthly newsletter reports to acquaint citizens with what he is calling a “potential financial disaster” looming before many departments.
“It is my perspective based on interviews and research materials that indicate the potential for serious financial problems for sheriffs’ offices,” he writes. “I might add that some of this information is based on current financial disasters in several sheriffs’ offices at this time.”
Chief among his concerns is the funding for his department’s corrections division, which is responsible for administering a full-service detention facility and a minimum security jail – with a combined 96-bed capacity - and consumes about 70 percent of the department’s $4.3 million budget.
While he has been unable to find any such bill pending in the legislature, Sheriff Bratton has heard some lawmakers and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction have floated a proposal to hold counties responsible for medical costs of inmates who’ve been transferred from a county jail to the state penitentiary system.
“Right now, once we transfer an inmate from our custody to the state, the state assumes all responsibility,” the sheriff said. “There has been conversation, and I say this cautiously because there is no bill that I can find, but we’re starting to hear legislators talk about having the counties pick up the medical costs while the inmates are at the state. If you take every inmate that we ship out of here plus the inmates we incarcerate here, the medical costs would probably double or more which would kill our budget.
“In a lot of current legislation where there is a penalty such as a fourth or fifth degree felony attached, they say county jails can hold those inmates because prisons in Ohio are overcrowded,” Sheriff Bratton said. “And the governor has said he will build no new prisons. What do you do with the overflow? You pass legislation with penalties that allow the convicts to be held in county jails.”
Last October, an inmate needing medication for psychological problems was lodged in the Ottawa County jail. As of April, his medication costs alone have reached $15,000, the sheriff said, adding it’s not uncommon to have several inmates undergoing psychiatric evaluation while incarcerated.
“I’d say medical costs will be the number one issue for sheriffs,” he said.
But other rising costs are straining departmental budgets as well. In Ottawa County, the squeeze of higher fuel costs is being felt even though the department buys gasoline in bulk and receives a tax break.
Sheriff Bratton estimates the department is now paying about $1,500-$2,000 more per month to purchase gasoline.
Despite taking steps to conserve usage, the department may be facing a fuel budget shortage of nearly $25,000, according to the sheriff. During just the month of March, deputies in the corrections division drove 1,881 miles transporting inmates; nearly 1,780 of those miles were outside of the county.
The sheriff is undertaking this effort to inform the public about the financial status of his and other law enforcement agencies to give local taxpayers a “heads up.”
“I’ve talked with sheriffs from larger counties and their backs are up against the wall,” he said.
One sheriff in a southern county has been so hard hit that he’s closed his jail, laid off his administrative staff, and relegated his detectives to road patrol, Sheriff Bratton said.
“I’m looking two or three years down the road,” he said. “We have to start talking about this. Here in Ottawa County the commissioners have been tough and watched every penny. So we’re in pretty good shape now. But the big issue is the health cost if we have to start taking care of these guys while they’re in a state facility. That could really hurt us.”
In April, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Terry Collins announced that 701 positions agency-wide will be eliminated due to budget constraints. That includes 539 positions that will be abolished and 162 currently vacant positions which will remain unfilled.
Correction officers, parole officers, teachers, and nurse positions were all excluded from the abolishment process. The department recently reached an all time high with an inmate population of 50,099. The department decided not to close a facility because of the increasing inmate population, which is projected to reach 55,000 by 2010.
The staff reduction represents approximately 5 percent of DRC’s nearly 14,500 workforce.
Sheriff Bratton will be using his next two monthly reports to discuss the health care issue in more detail and to discuss possible solutions.
He’s prepared a PowerPoint presentation and is making himself available for meetings with civic groups and other organizations.
To contact Sheriff Bratton call (419) 734-6877.
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