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Abraxas Ohio
Shelby, Ohio
Cornell Companies
August 4, 2010 Mansfield News Journal
A judge modified bond Tuesday for a former youth counselor at a Shelby
residential treatment center who is accused of raping a 16-year-old girl. Randy
Scott, 35, of Mifflin Township, had been held on a $500,000 cash bond after his
May arrest. Last week, Richland County Common Pleas Judge James Henson granted a
defense request to reduce the bond to $10,000 with 10 percent posting allowed.
The state objected and requested Tuesday's hearing. Following testimony from two
witnesses, Henson rescinded the previous bond. The new terms are $100,000 with
10 percent posting. If Scott posts bond, he will be monitored electronically and
cannot have contact with the alleged victim. Scott is charged with four counts
of rape, four counts of sexual battery, four counts of gross sexual imposition
and one count of kidnapping with a sexual motivation specification. The alleged
victim was not a resident at Abraxas, a residential program for males ages 12 to
18. Assistant Prosecutor Bambi Couch-Page wanted Henson to reconsider his
previous decision to reduce Scott's bond. "The defendant cannot control himself
sexually around minors," she said. Couch-Page called sheriff's deputy Pat Smith
as a witness. Smith said there are two pending investigations against Scott. The
more recent case involved alleged sexual conduct between Scott and a 16-year-old
Abraxas boy. Scott has been fired, said Charles Seigel, a vice president for
Cornell Companies, which operates Abraxas. The older case involved Scott's
alleged sexual conduct with three females -- ages 13, 14 and 18 -- while he
worked at Foundations for Living, a residential treatment facility on Ohio 39
South.
May 11, 2010 Mansfield News Journal
A youth counselor at a Shelby residential treatment center was arrested and
charged with the rape of a 16-year-old, officials said Monday. Randy Lamont
Scott, 35, of Mifflin Township, is incarcerated at the Richland County Jail on
$500,000 bond after pleading not guilty Friday morning to a single count of
rape, a first-degree felony. A spokesman for Abraxas, the Shelby youth rehab
center where Scott worked, said he was placed on nonadministrative, unpaid leave
last week. The child, who is not part of the Abraxas program, has received a
medical exam and counseling, according to Carl Hunnell, a Children Services
spokesman. "We were notified on May 5, at 5:34 p.m., on the allegations,"
Hunnell said. "We're working with the sheriff's department on the investigation
of the victim due to the age." Richland County Sheriff's Deputy Pat Smith
declined to say much about Scott, citing the ongoing investigation, but alluded
to a "period of abuse." Scott was a "life skills worker" at Abraxas and was
responsible for leading group sessions and supervising group activities on
weekends, said Charles Seigel, a vice president for Cornell Companies, which
operates Abraxas. Scott had worked at the facility for less than two years and
passed a background check and drug tests, which Seigel said were routine for
incoming employees. While he has not been fired, Seigel said the company likely
wouldn't wait for the legal case to be resolved. "Anything that would be a
felony would be pretty much automatic," Seigel said. "We'll take a look at the
situation." The Shelby facility's 108-bed residential program, "incorporates an
intensive group curriculum focusing on decision-making, goal-setting,
self-esteem, sex education and relapse process/prevention," according to the
company's website.
Annashae
Corp
Ohio
August 26, 2003
A contractor who provides physicians work in Ohio prisons says the state's
progressively lower spending limits are causing the company to hire doctors with
less training, a newspaper and television station reported. The prison
system has reduced medical costs by using contract caps to gradually pay less to
the companies providing the doctors who work in prison clinics. A
Cleveland company that provides contract services, Annashae Corp., said the
reduced payments limit the quality of doctors it can hire to care for inmates,
the Columbus Dispatch and WBNS-TV reported Monday in the second installment of a
two-part series on medical care in Ohio's prisons. ``If you're offering
less than a doctor could make at a private clinic or emergency room, how are you
going to sell that physician on working with maximum-security or medium-security
inmates in a remote area of Ohio?'' said Christopher Pasiadis, Annashae's chief
operating officer. (Ohio.com)
Columbiana
County Jail
Leetonia, Ohio
Community Education Centers (bought
CiviGenics)
November 17, 2011 Salem News
A former employee of Civigenics, the company which provides prison management at
the Columbiana County Jail filed a wrongful termination suit Tuesday in
Columbiana County Common Pleas Court. Stephen Crea, East Liverpool, claims age
discrimination was behind the company releasing him on May 19. He was 60 years
old when he was let go and the person who replaced him was under 40. Warden Gary
Grimm reportedly told him "it is better that we part ways now" and let him go
without further explanation, according to court documents. Besides lost wages
and benefits, the court documents also allege Crea's civil rights were violated.
He is seeking in excess of $25,000 in damages.
December 10, 2010 The Review
A former Columbiana County Jail inmate won $262,850 in damages from a fellow
inmate he said assaulted him for refusing to bring in contraband after returning
from work release. Jeffrey Woodburn, of Lisbon, formerly of Wellsville, won a
default judgment against Aaron Holt of East Liverpool in October after Judge C.
Ashley Pike of Common Pleas Court found Holt liable for damages. Last month a
hearing was held to determine the amount of damages, with a judgment entry
signed this week to outline the breakdown. According to the entry, Woodburn was
awarded $12,850 for compensatory damages, $100,000 in monetary damages for pain
and suffering and $150,000 in punitive damages for a total of $262,850. Court
costs accrued after other defendants were dismissed were taxed to Holt . The
entry also prohibited Holt from trying to discharge the judgment in a bankruptcy
proceeding. Woodburn filed the complaint in July 2009 over a July 23, 2008
incident inside the jail when some fellow inmates assaulted him because he said
he refused to bring them cigarettes and drugs when he returned from work
release. He had been in jail for domestic violence, but had work release
privileges, meaning he could leave the jail to go to work and then come back.
According to the lawsuit, Woodburn had reported the threats made against him to
jail personnel who placed him in protective custody in his own cell in a
separate section of the lockup. The document said security measures were
breached when Holt, and a few other inmates were able to enter his cell and beat
him, resulting in injuries and hospitalization. An assault charge was filed
against Holt but was later dismissed. Apparently he was unavailable because the
jail permitted him to be transported out of the county, according to court
entries. There were no charges filed against the other two known inmates, David
Crow of Wellsville and Derrick Howard of Youngstown. The lawsuit had been filed
against Holt, Crow and Howard, along with the company operating the jail,
Community Education Centers Inc., part of CiviGenics Texas, and the Columbiana
County Commissioners. The claims against everyone except for Holt had been
dropped.
December 3, 2010 Vindicator
A charge of domestic violence has been dismissed against a man who was injured
when he jumped from a second story Columbiana County jail-cell block Nov. 16.
Ronald E. Davie, 28, of Calcutta Smith Road, East Liverpool, suffered serious
head injuries. The jail is run by a private company, CiviGenics Inc. of Milford,
Mass. Columbiana County Prosecutor Robert Herron said that Sheriff Ray Stone
suggested that the charge should be dropped to save the county money. Davie was
taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown. The county would have to pay
a deputy to watch Davie in the hospital. Herron said the county had initially
made arrangements with security officials at the hospital to monitor Davie.
Herron said he did not know who would care for Davie. Davie’s father, William
Davie of St. Clair Township, said, “They just threw him to the wolves. ... I
don’t know what is going to happen.”
November 18, 2010 Vindicator
Peter Argeropulos, the chief operating officer for CiviGenics Inc. in Milford,
Mass., was unavailable Wednesday to comment about reports that an inmate in the
Columbiana County jail severely injured himself Tuesday by jumping from a
second-story cell block. CiviGenics, a private company, runs the jail. County
Sheriff Ray Stone referred questions about the incident to CiviGenics. The
warden at the jail who works for CiviGenics was not available.
October 13, 2010 Vindicator
The Columbiana County sheriff’s office is investigating the death of Amy
Fortune, 35, of Main Street, Minerva, found dead Saturday morning in her
Columbiana County jail cell. Sheriff Ray Stone said she was serving three days
for driving while under a license suspension. Stone said that she was then going
to be transferred to the Tuscarawas County jail on a charge of assault on a
corrections officer. Peter Argeropulos, the chief operating officer for
CiviGenics Inc., of Milford, Mass., the private company that runs the county
jail, said that Fortune was in a cell with another woman. The second woman left
the cell to help prepare breakfast for the other inmates about 5:30 a.m. An
officer making rounds in the jail found Fortune on the floor of the cell. CPR
was administered, and she was taken to Salem Community Hospital, where she was
pronounced dead. An autopsy was performed at the Cuyahoga County coroner’s
office, but Columbiana County Coroner Dr. William Graham has not issued a
ruling.
August 11, 2010 The Review
A lawsuit filed against the private operator of the Columbiana County Jail and
the county commissioners has been dismissed, but remains against inmates who
assaulted another inmate. Jeffrey Woodburn of Lisbon, formerly of Wellsville,
filed the complaint in July 2009 over a July 2008 attack which occurred after he
refused to bring tobacco and drugs to the other inmates when he returned to the
lockup from work release. A recent judgment entry said the complaint was settled
and dismissed against Community Education Centers Inc. and CiviGenics Texas,
along with the county board of commissioners, only, at the defendant's costs.
The entry didn't note the terms of the settlement. The case apparently remains
against the inmates who were named as defendants in the lawsuit, including Aaron
Holt of East Liverpool, David Crow of Wellsville and Derrick Howard of
Youngstown. The claims against the jail operator and commissioners included
alleged negligence and a security breach which Woodburn alleged led to the
attack. The lawsuit said Woodburn reported the threats to jail personnel who
placed him in protective custody in his own cell in a separate section of the
jail. The document said security measures were breached on July 23, 2008 when
Holt, Crow, Howard and possibly a fourth inmate were able to enter Woodburn's
cell and beat him, requiring hospitalization.
July 22, 2010 The Salem News
A Lisbon woman fired from her job as a corrections officer at the Columbiana
County Jail filed a lawsuit Wednesday to challenge the action as discriminatory
based on her gender, her age and her religion. Janet Logan, state Route 164,
named four defendants in her complaint, including the private company operating
the jail, CiviGenics Texas Inc., doing business as Community Education Centers
Inc. Other defendants include supervisor Peter Neiheisel, a lieutenant and chief
of operations for the jail, assistant jail warden Jay Nolte and jail warden Gary
Grimm. Logan started working for CiviGenics as a corrections officer on April
28, 1998. On Jan. 21 of this year, she was suspended from her job for three days
for allegedly fighting with a corrections officer, then she was told on Jan. 25
that she was terminated. In the lawsuit, Logan contended that she was wrongfully
suspended and terminated for alleged "unsatisfactory work performance" based on
allegations that she fought with another corrections officer and discussed staff
with inmates. She claimed the allegations weren't true. Her contention was that
she was discriminated against because she was a woman, because she was 50 years
old and because of her religious belief that she not work on Sundays. She
claimed she was replaced by a male corrections officer and since 2001 was
continuously passed over for promotions. In late 2009, she said she was reduced
to one or two days a week while male officers continued to work their schedules
without a reduction. She also claimed males were treated more favorably, females
were hired in less numbers than males and a statement was made that "females do
not belong in this workplace." As for her religious beliefs, she said she told
the previous warden and assistant warden about her practice and was told she
would be scheduled on Monday through Thursday and be put in a full-time position
when a slot became available. She wasn't scheduled to work Sundays. When Nolte
and Grimm came into place, she told them about her religious beliefs and did not
work Sundays. When she relayed to them that she wanted to become full-time, they
said she couldn't become full-time or be promoted because she wouldn't work on
Sundays. She said others with similar religious beliefs have been promoted and
not scheduled to work on Sundays. She also said her age played into her reduced
schedule and the alleged attempt to get her to quit. Logan claimed Neiheisel,
Nolte and Grimm violated her civil rights by their actions, alleging they used
false information against her. She's requesting damages in excess of $25,000. A
call for comment was placed to a CiviGenics official, Peter Argeropulous, but
wasn't returned Wednesday afternoon.
July 23, 2009 Morning Journal News
A former jail inmate assaulted by fellow inmates at the Columbiana County jail
one year ago today filed a promised lawsuit, claiming negligence and a security
breach led to the attack. Jeffrey Woodburn of Wellsville named the private jail
operator known as Community Education Centers Inc. and CiviGenics Texas, along
with the county board of commissioners, the named inmates Aaron Holt of East
Liverpool, David Crow of Wellsville and Derrick Howard of Youngstown and an
unnamed inmate as defendants. The case appears to be another byproduct of
inmates trying to persuade others to smuggle drugs and tobacco into the lockup,
with the lawsuit alleging Woodburn was "threatened by other inmates after he
refused to bring them tobacco and drugs upon his return to the jail from work
release." Three jailers were charged with bringing drugs onto the grounds of the
jail facility, with two imprisoned and one found innocent of the felony charge.
During testimony, he said the inmates kept asking him to bring items in to them,
and others testified about inmates using cell phones to place orders for drugs.
According to the lawsuit, Woodburn reported the threats against him to jail
personnel who placed him in protective custody in his own cell in a separate
section of the jail. The document said security measures were breached on July
23, 2008, when Holt, Crow, Howard and possibly a fourth inmate were able to
enter Woodburn's cell and beat him, requiring hospitalization. CiviGenics
reported the incident to the Sheriff's Office at 9:58 a.m. July 25, according to
a Sheriff's Office report, which noted the incident occurred at 8:55 p.m. July
23. The report said "an unknown inmate hit the emergency button on the control
panel in pod 30 section of the jail," which released the doors of all the cells
for evacuation. The three named inmates entered Woodburn's cell and allegedly
kicked and punched him in the face and chest, the report said. The report listed
no arrests for the assault. According to Columbiana County Municipal Court
records, no charges were filed against Crow or Howard, but an assault charge was
filed against Holt on July 29. However, it was later dismissed in September due
to the unavailability of the defendant. The entry on the Clerk of Courts Web
site said the jail let the defendant be transported out of the county.
CiviGenics, which operates Community Education Centers Inc., is under contract
with the county commissioners to operate the jail, a deal the commissioners
first brokered in 1997 as a cost-saving measure. The contract expires in
December. Woodburn, who was in jail for domestic violence, was released early as
a result of the assault. His attorney, Lawrence Stacey II, first raised the
issue of a negligence lawsuit last August when he filed motions for the release
of Woodburn and two other inmates due to threats from inmates who wanted them to
smuggle contraband into the facility. All three had work release privileges,
which meant they could leave the jail to go to work and then come back. Woodburn
requested damages in excess of $25,000, with Judge C. Ashley Pike assigned to
the case. Commissioner Jim Hoppel, when questioned about the lawsuit, said they
were advised of the incident when it happened last year. "The situation has been
addressed," he said when asked about the alleged security breach. "With the
contract we have with CiviGenics, we're held harmless with any lawsuits," he
said, adding, though, they'll refer it to the prosecutor's office. Peter
Argeropulos, CiviGenics senior vice president, confirmed what Hoppel said about
the hold harmless clause, saying the county is insulated against anything that
may occur at the jail. He said they hadn't been served with the lawsuit, but
said they'll refer the case to their attorney and take appropriate steps. When
asked about the situation with the drug smuggling into the jail, he said they
work closely with the Sheriff's Office and the county Drug Task Force. "Overall
I think we've got a pretty solid track record. We have good employees at the
jail," he said.
May 5, 2009 The Review
A former CiviGenics guard accused of smuggling marijuana to inmates became an
inmate himself after being sentenced to seven months in prison last week.
Nathaniel Barnes, 29, of Youngstown, appeared for sentencing in Columbiana
County Common Pleas Court for attempted illegal conveyance of a drug of abuse
onto the grounds of a detention facility, a fourth-degree felony. He was
originally indicted for a third-degree felony count for illegal conveyance.
Judge David Tobin issued the sentence, giving Barnes credit for four days
already served in jail. When Barnes entered a guilty plea in March, county Chief
Assistant Prosecutor John Gamble said he would recommend a one-year prison term.
The charge carried a possible penalty of six to 18 months in prison and a $5,000
fine. The original charge would have meant a possible prison term of one to five
years. Barnes was the second former guard sent to prison for smuggling
contraband into the county jail to sell to inmates. Former guard Gary J. Ludt
was sentenced to prison for 18 months in October 2007 for the same crime. A
third former guard, Jason L. Jackson, was found innocent of illegal conveyance
during a jury trial last month. According to Gamble, inmates would send a money
order to a post office box in Campbell in Mahoning County and order what they
wanted, then Barnes would make the delivery at the jail.
February 5, 2009 Salem News
A former CiviGenics guard accused of smuggling marijuana into the Columbiana
County jail to sell to inmates pled guilty Wednesday to an amended felony
charge. Nathaniel Barnes, 29, of Boardman, entered the plea in Common Pleas
Court to attempted illegal conveyance of a drug of abuse onto the grounds of a
detention facility, a fourth-degree felony. He was originally indicted for a
third-degree felony count for illegal conveyance. In the past couple of years,
three different guards at the county jail have been indicted for smuggling
contraband into the lockup as part of scheme to sell marijuana and cigarettes to
inmates in exchange for money.
December 18, 2008 Morning Journal News
An oversight on the part of Columbiana County commissioners when they privatized
the county jail will cost $464,837 to correct. This is the amount commissioners
agreed on Wednesday to pay into the retirement accounts of three former and two
current jail employees to settle a lawsuit filed in 2004. The roots of the
dispute can be traced back to 1998, when commissioners hired CiviGenics Inc. to
take over jail operations, thereby abolishing the corrections officer positions
as county employees, some of whom were rehired by the company. In 2004, an
attorney representing some of the former jail employees now working for
CiviGenics initiated legal action, saying commissioners were required to
continue contributing into their public employee pension accounts under the Ohio
Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) even though the county no longer
operated the jail. Their attorney cited a state law requiring contributions
continue into the retirement accounts of a public employee whose job was
abolished due to privatization. This applies to only those employees who
returned to work for the private operator and continued to perform the same or
similar duties as before. Commissioners fought the ruling for the next several
years until the OPERS board ruled against them in 2007. When commissioners
failed to act quickly enough, the attorney then filed a lawsuit with the Ohio
7th District Court of Appeals forcing them to comply with the ruling.
Commissioners did so on April 30, 2008, when they entered into a consent
settlement with the five workers. The next seven months were spent trying to
calculate how much these employees would be owed in their public retirement
accounts. County Auditor Nancy Milliken arrived at yesterday's meeting with the
figure - $464,837 - which represents back employee and employer contributions,
interest and penalties. The five employees are Pete Neiheisel, Melvin Jordan,
Joe Weston, Gene St. John and Jerry Foreman. Three of these employees no longer
work at the jail, however. As for the two who remain, commissioners will be
required to make the employer contributions into their retirement accounts,
which Milliken said will come out to a combined $12,000 in 2009, or 14 percent
of their salary. The two workers, and not commissioners, will resume making the
employee contributions into OPERS, although the law seemed to indicate this was
the county's responsibility. But Milliken said she received an opinion from the
Ohio Attorney General's Office stating the employees would be responsible for
making their matching contribution.
December 11, 2008 The Review
The escape of four inmates from the Columbiana County jail this summer has
led to the purchase of a new camera system for the outside perimeter of the
lockup, giving better coverage and better views, Commissioner Jim Hoppel said.
The commissioners approved the purchase Wednesday from Radi-O-Sound
Communications of Salem, with $47,684 covering the equipment and $8,600 covering
the installation. The money will come from the general fund. Two quotes were
sought through state purchasing, with a Mahoning County firm submitting the
other price. Hoppel said they were close in price for the cameras and the Salem
firm didn't beat the other company by much for the installation price. He said
they try to use local vendors when they can. The new system will include up to
16 cameras and will allow the warden to tap into the system from home to monitor
what's happening. The sheriff also will have the ability to tap into the system.
"Would this have stopped the escape?" Hoppel asked, then answered himself, "no."
He admitted there were some problems with the old cameras, noting their age and
the weather affecting them. The new camera system is just part of what they're
doing to upgrade security equipment since the escape. With the improvements in
technology, he said it was time to upgrade. A report looked at what led to the
escape on Aug. 17 when four inmates broke into a maintenance closet, entered an
access panel and crawled through the utility duct work to get to the roof where
they managed to open a hatch to get outside, then jumped from the roof to the
parking lot and freedom for a day. They were all caught together in a stolen car
in Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. According to the report, some jail personnel
didn't follow proper procedure for counting inmates or conducting security
checks, leading to three jail employees being fired in the aftermath of the
escape. Hoppel said they bolted down the hatches to the roof and have instituted
other improvements to prevent escape.
September 12, 2008 Youngstown Vindicator
Three staff members were fired in the wake of the escape from the Columbiana
County Jail on Aug. 17. Their names were not released in a report Thursday by
the county commissioners, who own the jail west of Lisbon. The workers were not
county employees. The commissioners lease the jail to Community Education
Centers, a private company based in West Caldwell, N. J., that runs detention
facilities and programs to help prisoners turn their lives around. Four
prisoners, William E. Merritt, Mark Foden, John Hamilton and Jason W. Hefner
Sr., escaped from the jail between 8:30 and 9 p.m. They were recaptured the next
day near Pittsburgh. John Gilbert, CEC’s deputy director/secure facility
division, wrote, “It is clear that staff complacency and physical plant
vulnerabilities played a key role in the escape.” The prisoners “used sheets,
blankets, pillows, personal clothing and other personal items to craft human
shape [sic] dummies on their beds, then covered them with sheets, creating the
appearance of a body asleep in the bed,” Gilbert wrote. Established policies and
procedures for counting prisoners were not followed. The report says that the
10:45 p.m. prisoner count will now be a “stand-up face-to-face count with
verification that each inmate is in their cell.” Sheriff’s officials initially
thought the escape occurred later in the night. The sheriff’s office is
conducting its own investigation. Sheriff Raymond Stone could not be reached. He
took office after the escape. Former Sheriff David Smith said the lock on the
maintenance door was smashed. The company’s report said the door was
“manipulated.” Peter Argeropulos, senior vice president for the CEC, said
prisoners got into a maintenance closet and were able to access and move through
a crawl space to eventually reach the roof. They dropped off the front of the
jail, where there is no fence, and took off. Argeropulos said the escapees were
able to somehow release the hatch on the roof. New security measures have been
taken to secure other hatches in the building, and some locks have been
upgraded. He said that he did not think a fence was needed at the front of the
jail, which includes the coroner’s office.
August 29, 2008 Morning Journal News
Three Columbiana County Jail inmates were let out of their sentences early in
August after one of them was severely beaten and the others were threatened. The
three are represented by attorney Lawrence Stacey II, who says the threats came
from fellow inmates who wanted his clients to smuggle drugs and cigarettes into
the jail. He is contemplating filing a negligence lawsuit on their behalf
against county commissioners and CiviGenics Inc., the private company that
operates the jail under contract with commissioners. The three inmates are: -
Jeffrey B. Woodburn, 38, sentenced to four months in jail for domestic violence.
- Michael Lentini, 39, sentenced to 100 days for domestic violence. - Jonathan
McGarry, 19, sentenced to six months for assault. The charges were misdemeanors,
and Stacey said all three had work release privileges at the outset of their
sentences, which means they were allowed to leave the jail to go to and from
their jobs. Because these were violence-related crimes, they were serving their
sentences in the maximum-security wing of the jail complex, where they came into
contact with accused felons awaiting trial. Stacey said some of the accused
felons ordered his clients to smuggle illegal drugs and cigarettes into the jail
for them when returning from work, "or something bad would happen." "All three
had received verbal or written threats from hard-core felons in there," Stacey
said. Woodburn refused to smuggle in contraband and on July 23 he was assaulted
in his cell by three other inmates, who kicked and punched him about the face
and chest. Woodburn was taken to Salem Community Hospital with a punctured lung
and numerous bruises and cuts. This prompted Stacey to file his motion for early
release to protect his client. In his motion, Stacey accused the jail staff of
being forewarned of the threats and then failing to "take the necessary steps to
protect (Woodburn)" from being attacked. County Municipal Court Judge Carol Robb
granted Stacey's motion, and the subsequent early-release motions he filed on
behalf of Lentini and McGarry. They were all placed on probation for the
remainder of their sentences and placed under electronically monitored house
arrest. "As a result of what's been going on, the judges have had no choice but
release these inmates early," Stacey said. "The judges are doing the responsible
thing." What Stacey finds most troubling is that Woodburn was placed in an
isolation cell after reporting the threats, but that didn't prevent the inmates
from getting to him on July 23. According to incident report filed by the county
sheriff's office, an unknown inmate gained access to the emergency button on the
control panel that released all of the doors in cell pod 30. "I don't know how
these inmates were able to get to the control panel and unlock all of the jail
cells" to get to Woodburn, said Stacey, who was been trying to get a copy of the
report for the past month. A call to the jail warden's office went unreturned.
Jail security is currently being reviewed after three inmates escaped from the
jail on Aug. 18 by breaking into a locked closet and finding a panel that opened
to duct work leading to the roof. A report on the escape is expected to be
released any day, but preliminary indications are one of the contributing
factors is jail staff failed to properly perform a head count when securing
inmates in their cells that night. In June, another inmate escaped after kicking
out an unsecure window leading to the parking lot outside the minimum-security
wing of the jail. During the past two years, three former jail guards have been
charged with smuggling drugs into the facility, one of whom was convicted and
another one has gone missing while awaiting awaiting trial. The third one is
scheduled to go on trial next year.
August 26, 2008 Salem News
Four inmates who broke out of the Columbiana County Jail earlier this month
will face preliminary hearings on felony escape charges Thursday in county
Municipal Court. William Merritt, 40, and Mark Foden, 38, both of East
Liverpool, Jason Heffner, 28, of Salineville, and John Hamilton, 21, of Salem,
appeared via video from the county jail for arraignment on the charges Friday,
with bonds of $250,000 cash or surety set. Heffner's girlfriend, Melissa
McCulley, 26, of Salineville, appeared for arraignment Monday for a felony
charge of complicity to escape, with a bond of $50,000 cash or surety set.
She'll also face a preliminary hearing Thursday. The four inmates broke into a
locked closet, through an access door and then crawled through duct work until
they reached a hatch door to the roof. They broke through to the outside, then
jumped to the ground to make their escape, according to investigators. Officials
also suspected they stole a car from a Trinity Church Road property in Lisbon.
All four men and McCulley were found with the car in Bellevue, Pennsylvania,
where they were taken into custody. According to Sheriff David Smith, personnel
of the private company operating the jail may not have done a proper head count,
leading to a late discovery of the fact that four inmates were gone. CiviGenics
officials are preparing a report to provide to county commissioners and the
sheriff regarding the investigation and the action they'll take in response to
the escape. Commissioner Jim Hoppel said they aren't expecting the report until
the end of this week.
August 20, 2008 The Vindicator
Four prisoners broke out of the Columbiana County Jail by smashing a lock on
a steel door. Sheriff David Smith said Tuesday that breaking the lock allowed
the prisoners to leave the jail area and access a closet that held a shaft
containing wiring and plumbing. The four apparently climbed the shaft to the
jail roof and jumped to the ground Monday morning. The men were apprehended
about 1:30 p.m. Monday in Bellevue, Pa. Just what was used to break the lock and
why it was in the jail is under investigation, Smith said, Allen Haueter,
Smith’s chief deputy, said it was the first major escape at the jail since it
opened about 11 years ago. The jail, west of Lisbon, is owned by the county and
houses the sheriff’s and coroner’s offices. The facility, however, is run by
CiviGenics Inc. of Milford, Mass., which operates some 11 jails in Texas and
Ohio. Peter Argeropulos, the chief operating officer for CiviGenics, came to
Lisbon late Monday to investigate. The sheriff’s office and CiviGenics plan to
issue reports on what happened. Argeropulos said a team from the company had
toured the jail. “The lock was compromised,” he said. How that was done isn’t
clear. Argeropulos said the prisoner head count was apparently flawed at 10:45
p.m. Sunday, when jailers make head counts, rounds and check areas such as
showers. He said the company may have to revise its counting procedures. Smith
said his detective, Steve Walker, was interviewing the four escapees and a
girlfriend of one of them Tuesday in the Allegheny County Jail.
August 20, 2008 Salem News
A procedure to ensure inmates are in their cells after lockdown may not have
happened Sunday night when four prisoners escaped from the maximum security
section of the Columbiana County jail, according to Sheriff David Smith. Smith
explained that lockdown occurs at 11 p.m. and a guard "supposedly" goes to each
door and physically sees and physically knows that a person is in their cell.
"Apparently that didn't happen," he said in reference to Sunday night. William
Merritt, 40, and Mark Foden, 38, both of East Liverpool, Jason Heffner, 28, of
Salineville, and John Hamilton, 21, of Salem, crawled their way to freedom
through the duct work in the facility, breaking through a hatch door to the roof
and then jumping to the ground. Officials suspected they stole a 1995 Buick from
a Trinity Church Road property in Lisbon. All four escapees and Heffner's
girlfriend, Melissa McCulley, 26, of Salineville, were taken into custody Monday
afternoon in Bellevue, Pa., after the stolen car was spotted by police. Bellevue
is located near Pittsburgh. They were expected to be extradited back to Ohio to
face charges of felony escape, with McCulley to be charged with complicity to
escape. Smith said his personnel traveled to the Allegheny County jail on
Tuesday to interview the suspects. Back at the Columbiana County jail, which is
operated by the private firm CiviGenics, officials from the Sheriff's Office and
the company were interviewing employees. CiviGenics flew in personnel from Texas
and Massachusetts to launch an internal investigation of the incident. "I'm sure
we'll get to the bottom of exactly what happened," Smith said. He estimated the
time of escape occurred between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m., noting the missing men were
seen at a residence outside Summitville at 1:15 a.m. Monday. For them to break
into a utility closet, break through an access door, crawl through the duct
work, break through a hatch to the roof and leave the grounds would have taken
at least a couple hours, Smith theoried. They would have needed more time then
to steal the car and get to Summitville and to pick up McCulley. When asked if a
head count was completed at shift change, Smith said that's something being
investigated. When asked to clarify if they were checking to see if a proper
head count was completed, he responded, "The key word there is proper."
Questions remained about how they pulled off the escape, with the sheriff saying
he didn't know how they found the escape route they took. He estimated they had
to crawl at least 40 feet in total darkness through a passageway full of pipes
and no wider than 3 feet in diameter. In spots, he said he was told the piping
runs through the middle of the duct and they would have had to maneuver around
it. As for the doors, he said they had to break through three of them, beginning
with the locked steel door to the closet, the panel door leading into the duct
work and then the hatch to the roof which is pinned from the outside. He didn't
know what they used to make entry into the doors. "How these guys got out is
unbelievable," Smith said. When asked about their jail jumpsuits being on the
roof, he said he didn't know anything about their clothing situation. All four
men had hearings pending in Common Pleas Court this week from charges which
could result in prison time. Merritt was supposed to be arraigned Monday for
first-degree felony charges of attempted murder and aggravated robbery for
allegedly beating and stabbing a woman he knows last month in East Liverpool.
Foden had been scheduled to face trial Tuesday for two counts of robbery, a
second-degree felony, for allegedly robbing two East Liverpool stores in March
and threatening the clerks in the process. Heffner had a pretrial set for Friday
for single counts of attempted theft, breaking and entering, theft and receiving
stolen property and four counts of burglary. Hamilton also had a pretrial set
for Friday for identity theft, misuse of credit card and receiving stolen
property.
August 19, 2008 Salem News
A spokesman for the private firm operating the Columbiana County Jail said
company personnel will work with Sheriff David Smith to investigate an escape of
four prisoners and take the necessary steps to ensure it doesn't happen again.
"They'll evaluate what transpired," CiviGenics Senior Vice President Peter
Argeropulos said Monday. Argeropulos arrived in the county late Monday
afternoon, along with John Gilbert, director for the secured facilities division
of CiviGenics. A senior warden from another facility was expected to arrive
today. The warden of the Columbiana County facility is Gary Grimm, who used to
work for the Federal Bureau of Prisons at the Elkton facility outside Lisbon.
The company headquartered in Massachusetts operates 16 facilities in Ohio, Texas
and Arizona. The Columbiana County Commissioners first signed a contract with
the company in late 1997 to privatize the jail operation. The company started
operating the then-new full-service jail in January 1998. Argeropulos couldn't
release any details specific to the incident which resulted in four inmates
escaping through the duct work onto the roof and then jumping from the roof to
the ground without getting caught. They were later captured in Pennsylvania in a
car stolen from a Trinity Church Road property not far from the jail, which is
located on County Home Road, both off of U.S. Route 30 between Lisbon and
Hanoverton. He deferred to Smith for details about the incident, but said the
company's standard practice is to conduct an after action incident review. A
team of officials is brought to the site to assess the situation, evaluate the
security procedures and make a list of recommendations, if necessary. The report
will be provided to the sheriff and to the county commissioners. "Obviously this
is something we're concerned about. We'll get to the bottom of it," he said.
According to Argeropulos, jail staff members make rounds on the hour to check on
inmates, with a requirement "to see living, breathing flesh." They also do head
counts as part of their standard procedures. Commissioner Jim Hoppel said he was
told they do a count of inmates at the beginning of each shift and at the end of
each shift besides going periodic checks. Shift change came at 11 p.m. Sunday.
Sometime before 6 a.m., the prisoners escaped. Hoppel received a call at 6:48
a.m. Monday to notify him of the escape, then he called Commissioner Dan Bing
and Commissioner Penny Traina to advise them. He went to the scene and was on
the roof in the area where the inmates climbed through a hatch. More locks have
been placed on the roof hatches as a result of what happened. Smith said jail
personnel were being interviewed as part of the investigation and videotapes
were being reviewed. According to Hoppel, this was the first escape that he
could recall from the full-service jail. In May, an inmate broke through a
window in the minimum security wing to escape, but was later caught. Since then,
Hoppel said bars have been placed on the windows. Two years ago, two minimum
security inmates who were working outside escaped by riding off on a John Deere
tractor when they were supposed to be mowing grass. That same week, another
inmate who was working at the Courthouse in downtown Lisbon walked off. He was
also caught eventually.
May 31, 2008 Vindicator
A couple has been charged after a jail break and chase that ended when they
crashed into a West Virginia nursing home forcing the evacuation of 24 people.
In Columbiana County, Larry Williams, 35, of Lisbon, is charged with escape and
vandalism. His girlfriend, Candy Kibler, 37, also of Lisbon, is charged with
felony obstruction of justice. Both have criminal records. They are in Southwest
Regional Jail in Bexley, W.Va. They were taken into custody about 12:15 a.m.
Friday by West Virginia authorities. Allen Haueter, chief deputy for the
Columbiana County sheriff’s office, said Friday that Williams escaped from the
jail’s minimum-security section. He had been talking to Kibler on the phone,
apparently about her former boyfriend who allegedly owed her money, and he
became angry. That portion of the jail is a former nursing home and is run by a
private company, CiviGenics Inc. of Milford, Mass. Peter Argeropulos, CiviGenics’
chief operating officer, said Williams took an air conditioning unit out of the
wall, and used a piece of wood that supported it to smash the window and escape.
Haueter said a deputy coming to the jail saw Williams running away. Authorities
went to Kibler’s home but did not find Williams. Haueter said Williams
apparently stole a car from a home near the jail, drove to Lisbon to pick up
Kibler, and went to Kensington to see her ex-boyfriend to get money. Haueter
said the couple drove to Wooster in Wayne County, where they allegedly stole
another vehicle. Haueter said the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and
Investigation is to process the vehicle Monday for any evidence. Chief Tim
Stover of the Lewisburg Police Department in West Virginia said his officers saw
the couple driving and tried to stop the vehicle that went across a field and a
parking lot and crashed into the kitchen of the Brier Nursing Home. Stover said
24 residents were transferred to the Greenbrier Valley Medical Center as a
precautionary measure. The crash ruptured a natural gas line. No one at the
nursing home facility was hurt, he added. Williams and Kibler were both treated
for minor injuries at the medical center. The crash caused an estimated $10,000
to $15,000 to the facility. The couple are in the West Virginia jail on fugitive
warrants. Stover said he would wait to see how the extradition hearings
progressed before deciding whether to pursue charges in Lewisburg.
May 1, 2008 Morning Journal News
A decision by Columbiana County commissioners to settle a dispute over
retirement benefits for five former county jail employees could prove costly.
Just how much so has yet to be determined, but it could be substantial.
Commissioners voted at Wednesday’s meeting to enter into a consent agreement
with the former jail employees to resolve a lawsuit filed earlier this year with
the Ohio 7th District Court of Appeals. The lawsuit sought a court order
requiring commissioners to comply with a decision by the Ohio Public Employees
Retirement System (OPERS), which ruled last November five former employees were
entitled to retirement benefits dating back to 1998, when a private company took
over operating the jail. CiviGenics Inc., the company hired by commissioners to
operate the jail, hired a number of the former county jail employees who lost
their jobs due to privatization. In 2004, an attorney representing some of the
jail employees initiated legal action saying commissioners were required to
continue contributing into the OPERS on their behalf even though though the
county no longer operated the jail. The attorney cited a state law that requires
contributions continue to be made into a public employee pension plan of a
public employee whose job was abolished due to privatization. This applies if
the employee went to work for the private operator and continued to perform the
same or similar job duties. Commissioners fought the ruling for the next several
years until the OPERS board issued its ruling six months ago. When commissioners
failed to act quickly enough to suit the attorney, the lawsuit was filed with
the appeals court. Yesterday’s agreement to resolve the lawsuit requires
commissioners to pay both the employee and employer share of OPERS (about 14
percent of their salary) dating back to when the five employees were hired by
CiviGenics and to continue contributing into their public employee pension plan
as long as they remain employed by CiviGenics. The figure is to include
penalties and interest, with everything to be completed by June 30. No one seems
to know for sure how much the settlement will cost. County Auditor Nancy
Milliken said at one time she heard the figures $500,000-$600,000 thrown around,
while Commissioner Chairman Dan Bing said it could exceed $1 million.
Commissioner Jim Hoppel is the only current commissioner who was in office when
the decision was made to hire CiviGenics as a way to save money, which he says
it has done. “With privatizing the jail we’ve saved in 101/2 years in the
vicinity of $10 million,” Hoppel said. Although Hoppel doesn’t know how much the
settlement will cost the county, he is confident it will be significantly less
than what the county has saved. Bing said he doesn’t know where the money will
come from to pay the settlement. “It’s all because somebody didn’t do their job
in the past,” he said. Milliken said her office must obtain the workers’ pay
rates from CiviGenics during the period of their employment and begin making the
calculations based on the OPERS rates. The information would then have to be
submitted to the OPERS board for approval. This would be the second large
settlement commissioners would have to pay out because of their decision to
privatize the county jail. In 2002, commissioners agreed to pay $300,000 to
former jail employees to resolve outstanding labor complaints arising over
privatization.
January 20, 2008 Morning Journal News
Another corrections officer at the Columbiana County Jail, Nathaniel Barnes of
Youngstown, has been charged for reportedly smuggling marijuana and cigarette
tobacco to inmates. It is the second time in less than a year a correction
officer in Lisbon traded in his uniform for an orange jumpsuit for allegedly
smuggling items to inmates. Barnes, 28, was charged early Saturday with
conveyance of a substance into a corrections facility, which is a felony charge.
Dan Downard of the Columbiana County Drug Task Force said the charge was part of
an ongoing investigation that came after agents were made aware that one or more
corrections officers were smuggling marijuana or cigarette tobacco to the
inmates. He credited the warden at the county jail, operated by CiviGenics Inc.,
with being very cooperative. “The warden’s been a wonderful asset,” Downard
said. “He is adamant that he doesn’t want that kind of stuff going into the
jail.” Another corrections officer, Gary J. Ludt, 37, Bergholtz pleaded in
August 2007 to a similar charge of smuggling marijuana to inmates. He was
sentenced to 18 months in prison.
January 11, 2008 Morning Journal News
A ruling requiring Columbiana County commissioners to pay into the
retirement plans of five former county jail employees could provide expensive.
An attorney representing four of the five people filed a lawsuit this week with
the Ohio 7th District Court of Appeals seeking an order requiring commissioners
immediately comply with a recent decision by the Ohio Public Employees
Retirement System (OPERS). The OPERS board issued a final order on Nov. 14
saying the five workers were entitled to have the county continue paying into
their OPERS while they were employed by CiviGenics Inc., the company now running
the county jail. The roots of the dispute extend back to 1997, when
commissioners abolished all of the county jail jobs and hired CiviGenics Inc. to
take over operations, starting in 1998. The private company hired a number of
former jail employees, some of whom are still working there. In 2004, an
attorney representing former jail employees employed by CiviGenics initiated
action seeking OPERS payments on their behalf. The attorney cited a state law
requiring contributions continue into the pension plan of a public employee
whose job was abolished due to privatization. This applies to those former
public employees who were hired by the private company and continued to perform
the same or similar duties under their new employer. The OPERS ruled in January
2005 the law applied to the five former jail employees hired by CiviGenics.
Commissioners and the county sheriff spent the next two years appealing the
decision through the OPERS system before the final ruling was issued two months
ago. At one time, the attorney stated 19 former jail employees were affected, 11
of whom were no longer working for CiviGenics as of 2005. This was contested by
commissioners. Following the Nov. 15 ruling by the OPERS board, the county
auditor’s office was provided the necessary paperwork to fill out in order for
the retroactive pension compensation payments to be made. This was followed up
with a letter from the attorney, who threatened to take legal action unless the
county replied by the end of the year. Officials don’t know how much the five
employees are owed, but it could be in significant, depending how long they
worked for CiviGenics. Commissioners are required to contribute into OPERS a
dollar amount equal to about 14 percent of the employees’ salary, with the
employee required to contribute the same percentage. Commission Chairman Jim
Hoppel said they have yet to confer with their attorney about the lawsuit and
declined comment until then. He did say the county has saved more than $7
million since hiring CiviGenics 10 years ago. It was commissioners who
inadvertently contributed to the situation that currently exists by encouraging
CiviGenics to hire as many ex-jail employees as possible. “You try to be fair,
but that’s the way it goes,” Hoppel said. This would be the second large
settlement commissioners would have to pay out because of their decision to
privatize county jail operations. In 2002, commissioners agreed to pay $300,000
to former jail employees to resolve outstanding labor complaints arising out of
the privatization.
October 20, 2007 Morning Journal News
A fired county jail guard was sentenced to prison for smuggling marijuana to
inmates in exchange for money. Gary J. Ludt, 37, of Bergholz, was sentenced to
18 months in prison during a hearing Friday before Columbiana County Common
Pleas Court Judge C. Ashley Pike. In August, Ludt pleaded guilty to smuggling
and attempted smuggling of prohibited items into the jail. Assistant County
Prosecutor Tammie Riley Jones recommended Ludt be sentenced to 18 months in
prison because of the seriousness of the crime and the fact he should be held to
a higher standard because of his position. “It goes without saying this kind of
conduct maligns law enforcement everywhere,” she said, adding that while under
indictment Ludt was also charged in Jefferson County with possessing weapons
while under indictment. Defense attorney Sherrie Liebschner pointed out her
client didn’t have any a prior criminal record and he had taken complete
responsibility for his actions. She said the Jefferson County charge was there
result of Ludt going hunting. She asked for leniency on behalf of Ludt. “My
client is afraid for his life in this matter.” Ludt had no comment when it came
time for him to address Judge Pike, who said his actions damaged the public’s
perception of the entire criminal justice system. The crimes occurred in late
September 2006. In both instances, Ludt was under surveillance by agents from
the county drug task force. In the one instance, Ludt was caught in the jail
parking with a package of marijuana that had been left for him on top of one of
his vehicle tires. Ludt was arrested while walking to the jail after taking
possession of the package. Investigators claimed Ludt had been smuggling small
packages that included marijuana, tobacco, rolling papers, cigarettes and
lighters, which he sold to inmates for $20 to $50. Ludt told investigators he
needed the extra money. Ludt was employed by CiviGenics Inc., the private
company hired by county commissioners to run the jail.
June 19, 2007 Salem News
A trial for a former corrections officer accused of smuggling marijuana into
the Columbiana County Jail remains set for June 26. Gary Ludt, 36, whose last
known address was 102 W. Main St., Salineville, appeared Monday for a status
hearing in Common Pleas Court with his defense attorney Sherri Liebschner.
Liebschner advised Judge C. Ashley Pike that she told her client the latest
offer from the prosecutor’s office, but there was no resolution to the case.
Ludt was indicted last fall for two counts of illegal conveyance of prohibited
items onto the grounds of a detention facility, both third-degree felonies.
Court documents said Ludt was working for CiviGenics as a corrections officer
and allegedly smuggled marijuana and tobacco into the facility to sell to
inmates last September.
March 9, 2007 Vindicator
An investigation into contraband being smuggled into the Columbiana County
Jail has been turned over to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and
Investigation. Sgt. Brian McLaughlin, director of the Columbiana County Drug
Task Force, said Thursday the move was made to avoid any appearance of
impropriety. The task force is based at the building that includes the sheriff's
and coroner's offices, as well as the jail that is run by CiviGenics Inc., a
company in Milford, Mass. McLaughlin declined to comment on the investigation
but said it is ongoing. The task force began investigating smuggling at the jail
last year. Columbiana County Common Pleas Court records indicate that at least
one inmate used a cell phone smuggled into the jail to try to get drugs brought
into the facility. Jason L. Jackson, 28, of East Liverpool, was suspended
without pay Monday from his part-time job as a St. Clair Township patrolman. He
has not been charged.
March 8, 2007 Morning Journal
A St. Clair Township police officer who was suspended this week is suspected
of smuggling marijuana and cell phones to county jail inmates, according to
court records. The officer, Jason L. Jackson, also was fired Monday from his job
as a guard at the Columbiana County Jail, according to Jail Warden Hank Escola.
A request for a search warrant received by the county Drug Task Force indicated
the DTF was investigating Jackson because of allegations he was taking
prohibited items into the county jail for inmates. The alleged items included
cell phones, marijuana and tobacco. The search warrant stated the DTF received
information in January that Jackson and another guard had been engaging in this
behavior. The investigation culminated in the DTF obtaining a search warrant
over the weekend for Jackson’s pickup truck, with the warrant being executed
Sunday. The report on what the DTF may have found in Jackson’s truck has yet to
be filed in county Common Pleas Court. St. Clair Township Police Chief Don Hyatt
told the Morning Journal on Tuesday he suspended Jackson “while an investigation
is conducted into his alleged participation in criminal activity” and that this
criminal activity did not involve the township department. Warden Escola said he
fired Jackson Monday after being briefed by DTF officials. He said the other
implicated guard was fired last week for unrelated violations of policy and
procedures and failing to follow warden directives. He emphasized the other
guard’s dismissal had nothing to do with any of the alleged activities involving
Jackson. “That had been rumored, but there was no supportive information
presented to me” indicating the other guard was involved in any illegal
activity, he said. Jackson, 28, was still a probationary employee at the jail,
having worked there the past two months. The other guard had been employed for
the past 18 months. Last fall, former guard Gary Ludt was arrested after
allegedly being caught in the act of trying to smuggle the following items into
the jail: marijuana, loose tobacco, rolling papers and cigarette lighters. The
items were found hidden in Ludt’s belt when searched by DTF agents while he was
walking from his vehicle in the jail parking lot to report for his work shift.
Ludt, 36, reportedly was paid $20 to $50 for each package he was to deliver. He
is scheduled to go on trial May 8. The county jail is run by CiviGenics Inc., a
private company hired by county commissioners. Escola said this type of activity
obviously will not be tolerated.
November 10, 2006 Youngstown Vindicator
Columbiana County Sheriff David Smith said he will try to stop a planned pizza
party for jail inmates during the upcoming Ohio State-Michigan football game. "A
jail is a jail," an angry Smith said. The sheriff initially said there was no
pizza party planned when approached Thursday by The Vindicator. When shown a
notice about the party given to inmates at the privately run jail, Smith said,
"There will be no party." Still, Smith said he was not sure he can stop it. He
said he is the only sheriff in Ohio who does not control his county jail — it is
run by CiviGenics of Milford, Mass. The commissioners had received and filed an
anonymous letter and a copy of a notice to inmates. The items were postmarked
Monday. The Vindicator had also received information about the party. The notice
to all inmates from Warden Hank Escola says, "As we all know, the Ohio
State/Michigan game is filled with so much tradition that we must to do
something to show our support for the Buckeyes." The notice said inmates will
each get three slices of pizza in addition to their regular meals. Inmates who
can't eat pizza are to notify authorities so "we can make other arrangements,"
according to the notice. In return, the notice says inmates must keep their
cells and living areas clean, keep the noise down during the game, stop
"horseplay and childish games" and "help us to help you to have an easy time
while you're here." The anonymous letter to the commissioners asked, "Since when
did we start to reward inmates for crimes they commit and make their stay in
jail easy? What are we running, a jail or a resort?" The letter said that
inmates had rioted in September over the food and caused $4,000 in damage to the
jail. Smith said the damage was actually closer to $6,000. Five inmates have
been charged in the riot. In a separate, ongoing investigation, a civilian
jailer and another person have been charged with trying to smuggle drugs and
contraband into the jail. The jailer has been fired by CiviGenics. The jail's
food manager, who worked for a company under contract with CiviGenics, has been
replaced.
September 14, 2006 Youngstown Vindicator
Columbiana County's financial situation is looking a little bit better as
the year winds down. Auditor Nancy Milliken said there is a chance the county
may end the year with $600,000 to $800,000 in cash and some unpaid bills.
Commissioner Jim Hoppel and Commissioner Gary Williams estimated in July the
county might have a year-end balance with up to $1.2 million to start 2007. That
forecast was based on the county's not paying an estimated $1.1 million to $1.3
million in bills to CiviGenics Inc. this year. On Wednesday, commissioners told
CiviGenics, the company that runs the county jail, they will continue to pay the
company within 90 days of receiving each monthly bill. Hoppel said that delaying
payments longer would cause financial problems for the Massachusetts-based
company. The county has paid CiviGenics for June, is about to pay the July bill
and hasn't received the bill for August.
August 12, 2006 Salem News
Columbiana County Jail operator CiviGenics recently asked for "written
assurances" that the county will pay its bills for housing prisoners, regardless
of what happens with the sales tax. The company also warned the termination
provision for ending the contract could be reduced to 30 days and could be put
into effect. "Any plan to artificially reduce the county jail population will
invoke CiviGenics rights to exercise a 30-day termination provision," the letter
from Chief Operating Officer Peter Argeropulos said. Commissioners received the
letter last month, a promised response to an earlier visit from Argeropulos, who
had asked the commissioners for an update on the county's money situation. When
commissioners approved the general fund appropriations for this year, one area
they shorted was the contract for CiviGenics, predicting the shortage could
leave them with $1 million to $1.5 million in prisoner housing bills to pay with
next year's funds, which they've said could be even shorter. At this point, the
county has paid all the bills to CiviGenics on time.
July 27, 2006 Vindicator
Columbiana County commissioners say better finances have reduced the county's
projected 2006 deficit. The commissioners said Wednesday that a variety of
factors went into the new calculations. Voters in November and May rejected a
0.5-percent sales tax that brings in about $4 million a year. The issue will be
on the November ballot. Commissioners Jim Hoppel and Gary Williams estimate that
the county may have a year-end balance of $600,000 to $1.2 million with some
unpaid bills. Commissioner Sean Logan's more conservative estimates indicate the
county may have about a $500,000 carryover with unpaid bills. The county needs a
balance to fund operations at the start of each year until taxes are collected.
Both forecasts are based on the idea that the county will not pay $1.1 million
to $1.3 million in bills for 2006. That includes about $800,000 the county
expects to owe CiviGenics Inc., the company that runs the county jail, and about
$172,000 to the Multi-County Juvenile Attention System.
December 22, 2005 Morning Journal-News
County Commissioners breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday after approving the
requests by officeholders to appropriate the money they budgeted for each office
into the individual accounts. The one area that has the commissioners concerned
is the county jail. Last year, the county spent $491,273 during the first
quarter. The commissioners budgeted $570,000 for the first quarter of 2006.
However, commissioners are concerned that this might not be enough.
Commissioners indicated that the county was charged $289,000 for the last bill
they received from Civigenics, the company which operates the jail. This means
that if that pattern continues, the money appropriated will be only
approximately two-thirds of the money needed to pay for the jail.
September 22, 2005 The Review
With costs piling up for the hospitalization of murder defendant James Kovach
Jr., Columbiana County Commissioners took emergency action Wednesday to reduce
their financial liability. The commissioners approved a contract with Maxim
Healthcare of Boardman for a licensed practical nurse to cover times when
CiviGenics personnel aren't available at the county jail, so Kovach can be
transferred back to the jail. By law, counties must carry the burden of medical
costs for inmates in their care, which means the county will have to pay for the
hospitalization costs. As of Tuesday, the total overtime accumulated by deputies
manning the post exceeded $3,000. CiviGenics, the company running the county
jail, has a nursing staff, but doesn't have 24-hour-a-day coverage. Smith said
the county would have to cover the cost of a nurse to cover the empty shifts.
Maxim Nursing will cover Tuesday through Saturday at a cost of $1,424 at a rate
of $30 per hour on weekdays and $32 per hour for Friday and Saturday. The county
will also foot the bill for two nurses employed by CiviGenics to work extra
hours to cover Sundays and Mondays, at a cost of $360 at a rate of $20 per hour.
November 9, 2004 Morning Journal
A malfunctioning door alarm and a loose section of fence were responsible for
the recent escape of an inmate from the Columbiana County Jail. Michael Mick,
27, Frischkorn Drive, Wellsville, escaped from the minimum-security wing of the
jail complex on Oct. 30 by exiting through a door and then crawling under a
section of fence. County Commission Chairman Jim Hoppel toured the jail this
week and discussed the escape with officials from CiviGenics Inc., the private
company that operates the jail. Hoppel learned that Mick exited the jail through
a door which has a security alarm to notify corrections officers when it has
been opened. He said the alarm for the door and another malfunctioned and did
not alert the staff they had been opened. Although outside the building, Mick
still had to get out of the jail compound, which is surrounded by security fence
topped with razor wire. Hoppel
said the bottom of the fence is a tension cable that is supposed to be secured
to concrete pilings every eight feet, but Mick found a section of fence where
this was not done.
November 8, 2004 The Review
Some changes are to be made at the Columbiana County Jail as a result of a
recent escape. Commissioner Jim Hoppel met Monday afternoon with officials of
CiviGenics to discuss some upcoming work. Hoppel said a person familiar with
installing fences is to be asked to inspect the area and make recommendations on
the fence. Hoppel also stated two doors on which the alarms are not working
properly will be repaired.
October 31, 2004 Morning Journal
An
inmate from the Columbiana County jail remains loose after escaping Friday night
with a suspected truck stolen for the getaway found near the escapee's home.
According to the incident report filed by Civigenics, Mick was not located after
a lockdown at 9:15 p.m. with a complete search of the facility and a head count.
Smith said the perimeter and surrounding property was searched by deputies and
jail employees.
October 25, 2004 The Review
Democrat sheriff candidate John Soldano offered his own idea for keeping jail
profits in Columbiana County, suggesting an arrangement similar to the one used
for public defender services. Last week he challenged the $800,000 to $1 million
savings touted by the county through the jail contract with CiviGenics, telling
county commissioners he wanted to see the private company's revenue and
expenditure statement for himself to see if an alternative was possible. Soldano
said he didn't receive much information, at least not enough to verify the
savings, but he did note a net profit for CiviGenics of $962,000 since June
2002, money which he said left the county unnecessarily due to the lack of an
alternate plan.
October 23, 2004 The Review
The Democratic candidate for Columbiana County Sheriff questioned the numbers he
received from county commissioners for jail operations, but Commissioner Jim
Hoppel said the numbers are what they are. "That's what CiviGenics gave
us," Hoppel said Friday. Leetonia
Police Chief John Soldano, who's running against Republican incumbent Sheriff
David Smith, issued a written request earlier this week to Smith and the three
county commissioners asking for the annual revenues/expenditures statement for
CiviGenics, the private firm running the county jail. Soldano said he wanted to
study the numbers for himself to see if the county's really saving the amount of
money reported or whether it was financially feasible for the sheriff's office
to operate the jail. "I received some information from the
commissioners, however, I'm not so sure the information is accurate that I
received," he said. According
to Soldano, the numbers weren't adding up from the figures he had and they
didn't seem 100 percent accurate.
Correctional
Treatment Facility
Lucas County, Ohio
Aramark
March 18, 2005 Toledo Blade
Three Lucas County work-release inmates were taken to St. Vincent Mercy Medical
Center Wednesday after they ate food that contained what appeared to be metal
shavings. Two of the inmates were released from the hospital and returned to the
facility, 1111 Madison Ave. One was kept for unrelated reasons, said Jean Atkin,
county Common Pleas Court administrator. She said work-release and the
Correctional Treatment Facility, 1100 Jefferson Ave., receive food from the
county jail, which contracts with Aramark for food service. Treatment facility
officials yesterday reported a similar problem, but they thought the pieces were
aluminum foil, Ms. Atkin said. She said no one at the treatment facility ate the
food, which was thrown away. Rick Keller, corrections administrator, said he did
not hear of any food complaints in the jail. Ms. Atkin said a complaint was
lodged with the food provider. She said the contract with Aramark is up for
renewal soon and that there have been some concerns about the food service.
Aramark officials could not be reached for comment.
Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio
Stryker, Ohio
Correctional Medical Services
August 1, 2009 Toledo Blade
A Springfield Township psychologist whose security clearance was revoked
earlier this year by officials of the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio,was
named in a lawsuit filed by a former inmate at the Stryker facility. Wallace D.
O'Shell was sued Thursday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court by a woman who
claimed she was treated in an "improper manner." Specifically, Stephanie
Funkhouser, 31, claimed "inappropriate sexual conduct" and "touching in an
offensive manner." The lawsuit also alleged Funkhouser's medications were
withheld and that she was placed in solitary confinement as a means of obtaining
information from her. CCNO was also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit. Mr.
O'Shell had been a contract employee who worked through the jail's Correctional
Medical Services since June, 2008. In March, CCNO officials revoked his
clearance and initiated an investigation into Funkhouser's complaints.
Yesterday, Jim Dennis, CCNO executive director, said in a statement that the
investigation was completed and Mr. O'Shell's clearance was permanently revoked.
He added it was determined Mr. O'Shell "violated CCNO ethics policy, but there
was nothing criminal in nature, according to the Williams County Sheriff's
Department." "Dr. O'Shell admitted to investigators that he gave cash and
letters to a female inmate, which is in violation of CCNO policies," the
statement said. "Investigators were able to substantiate that there was no
sexual contact and no sexual conduct from the victim." According to CCNO policy,
"staff and inmates are not allowed to have sex or fraternize with each other,"
an issue raised in a training session that Mr. O'Shell attended, the statement
said. "He knew better. Such behavior was not tolerated and his security
clearance was revoked," said Mr. Dennis. Funkhouser was sentenced to CCNO May 20
by the Williams County Common Pleas Court for three counts of theft. She was
released June 22. Jail officials said the Ohio and Pennsylvania boards of
Psychology were contacted concerning possible discipline against Mr. O'Shell,
although no further information was available about the request. Linda
Shambarger, manager of inmate programs at CCNO, said the lawsuit had not yet
been served on jail officials.
March 6, 2009 Toledo Blade
Officials at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio say they’ve revoked access
to the regional jail for a contract employee after an inmate complained of
improper behavior. CCNO officials said the male employee, who is a psychologist,
admitted to giving cash and sending letters to a female inmate. That was a
violation of the jail’s fraternization and ethics policies, which are covered in
a handbook and an orientation video, they said. A Williams County sheriff’s
investigator is reviewing evidence in the case, which remains under
investigation. Authorities said they do not believe a crime was committed. The
employee had worked through the jail’s Correctional Medical Services since June.
Coshocton
County Justice Center
Coshocton, Ohio
Aramark
July 23, 2004
The new contract for the kitchen crew and the food they serve at the Coshocton
County Justice Center comes with good news and bad news. The two cooks at
the jail, Janet Swaney and Vickie McKee, will keep their current salaries.
However, the cooks will lose insurance and retirement benefits through the
county, and pay twice as much for health insurance with the contracted company.
Details of the contract with Aramark were worked out with administrators at the
sheriff's office and the Coshocton County Commissioners. "We'll
be making our current wages, (but) we'll be losing out on several things,"
she said. "If you don't have a county job, you don't have the retirement.
What we've put (into our retirement), we'll get, but it won't continue."
(Coshocton Tribune)
Cuyahoga County
Jail
Cuyahoga, Ohio
Extraditions International
September 12, 2001
A van transporting 12 prisoners from a Cuyahoga County jail to upstate New York
was hijacked Tuesday by one of the prisoners in a failed escape attempt, police
said. During a food stop, a guard and the driver of the van, which was
operated by Extraditions International, a private company, went into a
McDonald's restaurant, leaving a female guard to watch the prisoners.
Police said one of the prisoners, Lawrence Tutt, 32, of Pueblo, Colo.,
overwhelmed the woman, jumped in the driver's seat and sped off. Police
were able to stop the van after a brief chase and take all the prisoners into
custody. (AP)
Franklin County
Jail
Franklin, Ohio
Correctional Medical Services
March 7, 2002
Charles Dials was
carjacked while driving past the Franklin County
Courthouse.
With
a few phone calls, a doctor at the Franklin County jail would have been
warned that inmate Alva Campbell might be faking his paralysis.
That
evidence was in a deposition taken for a lawsuit filed by the family of
Charles Dials, whom Campbell killed during a 1997 escape. The family
recently settled for $1 million with the company that provided medical
services at the jail. The
settlement between Dials' family and Correctional Medical Services was
recorded Monday in Franklin County Probate Court. Campbell
jumped out of a wheelchair as he was being brought to the county
courthouse on April 2, 1997, and overpowered a deputy. The deputy had not
handcuffed Campbell because she thought he was a paraplegic.
The
hospital treated Campbell for a gunshot wound suffered when a store manager
shot him during a robbery attempt.
Common Pleas Judge Richard S.Sheward in November ruled in favor of Dials'
family.
"This
was a 1998 case and Correctional Medical dragged its feet and ignored
orders to comply so I gave a default judgment to the plaintiff,'' Sheward
said. "It wasn't a complicated case, but it was a serious case of a
wrongful
death of a young person who was executed.'' (The Dispatch)
Hamilton County
Jail
Hamilton County, Ohio
Correctional Medical Services, Prisoner Transportation Services of America
November 21, 2011 Local 12
The search is over for a prisoner who escaped from a private jail van during a
transfer. Cincinnati Police captured Jose Ramon Fernandez at noon today in Mount
Auburn. There were actually two men who escaped Sunday night around 11:30 p.m.
They were being transferred in a private prison vehicle carrying prisoners from
around the country. Court documents indicate the men kicked out the side door of
the vehicle at Reading and Sycamore Streets -- right by the jail. They had
slipped out of their handcuffs. One of the prisoners, 36 year old Walter Rode of
Dalton, Georgia, was caught about a block away but overpowered the security
person and continued to run. He was then tracked by a police canine unit at 12th
and Sycamore Streets-and rearrested. He's now facing an escape charge.
November 21, 2011 Local 12
The search continues this morning for a prisoner who escaped from a private jail
van during a transfer. There were actually two men who escaped Sunday night
around 11:30 p.m. They were being transferred in a private prison vehicle
carrying prisoners from around the country. Court documents indicate the men
kicked out the side door of the vehicle at Reading and Sycamore Streets -- right
by the jail. They had slipped out of their handcuffs. One of the prisoners, 36
year old Walter Rode of Dalton, Georgia, was caught about a block away but
overpowered the security person and continued to run. He was then tracked by a
police canine unit at 12th and Sycamore Streets-and rearrested. He's now facing
an escape charge. Officers say the second man, Jose Ramon Hernandez of Fort
Meyers, Florida, is still at-large. Officers have not said what charges the men
face originally. Court documents indicate Hernandez was en route to a jail in
Florida. Police have not released a photo of Hernandez. Sheriff officials say
the private jail van was in Hamilton County to deliver an inmate from Newport,
Kentucky on drug charges. That prisoner was taken to the Hamilton County Justice
Center without incident.
March 17, 2006 Enquirer
Seeing her with her head shaved, it apparently was easy for Stacey Erwin's
co-workers to believe she was being treated for cancer, and they wanted to help.
But police say the 40-year-old Erwin, who worked as a nurse at the Hamilton
County Jail, does not have cancer, and they have charged her with theft for
taking more than $5,000 in donations. "She was telling people she had brain
cancer, and they were giving her money," Steve Barnett, spokesman for the
Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, said Thursday. "One of her co-workers got
suspicious of her behavior." The sheriff's office said Erwin, of West McMillan
Street in Clifton Heights, obtained the money from "numerous co-workers after
leading them to believe she was suffering from cancer." Erwin, who was arrested
last week, was released on her own recognizance pending her next court
appearance. Barnett said Erwin even convinced even her husband she had cancer,
and he had unwittingly accepted donations on her behalf. Money problems
apparently prompted Erwin's scam, Barnett said. Erwin, a contract employee, has
been fired, Barnett said. Erwin was employed by St. Louis-based Correctional
Medical Services, which provides medical personnel for jails around the country.
Lake
Erie Correctional Institution
Conneaut, Ohio
CCA (formerly run by
Management and Training Corporation)
Bombshell
in Conneaut: City police will be burdened with investigating prison crime:
October 11, 2011, MARK TODD The Star Beacon. SURPRISE: CCA deal not so
good for locals.
January 11, 2012 Star Beacon
Local leaders are confident they have seen the end of the bureaucratic
tug-of-war that accompanied the recent sale of Lake Erie Correctional
Institution to a private security company. City administrators, at Monday’s City
Council meeting, said a legal ruling issued last week by Ohio Attorney General
Mike DeWine provided the definitive opinion on the sticky issue of who handles
criminal investigations inside the prison. “This matter has been put to rest,”
said Law Director David Schroeder. For the past two months, opinions swung back
and forth on the investigation matter. Depending on the week — or day — either
the city’s police department or the Ohio State Highway Patrol would handle
felony-level cases that originate at the prison, now the property of Corrections
Corporation of America. The OHP assumed the duty while the LaECI was a
state-owned facility. DeWine put the matter to rest with a letter that said the
prison is still considered a state institution since it houses state inmates,
despite its private ownership. As a result, the OHP will remain the primary law
enforcement authority at LaECI.
January 5, 2012 Star Beacon
The city, in a move that could indicate a lawsuit is looming, will keep tabs on
the impact investigations conducted by local police will have on the municipal
budget. Law Director David Schroeder said the city will closely monitor the
financial cost of handling felony-level cases that result inside the now
privately owned Lake Erie Correctional Institution. The city will compile the
figures over the span of a few months, he said. “We will be assembling data,”
Schroeder said. “There will be an expenditure of time and resources.” At issue
is the city’s sudden discovery that the Conneaut Police Department will indeed
be assigned serious cases originating on prison property. After a series of
meetings with state officials the past several weeks, including Gov. John
Kasich, the city had been led to believe the Ohio State Highway Patrol would
retain the law enforcement task it had held since the LaECI opened in 2000. City
administrators and council say the cash-strapped police department lack the
resources and manpower to patrol the town and spend time at the prison. In 2010,
the OHP investigated 125 cases at the LaECI, troopers said late last year. On
Tuesday, Schroeder said the city would “take any and all steps to protect the
community financially.” During council’s work session, Schroeder referenced an
agreement struck between the city and state prior to LaECI’s construction that
states the prison will remain under state ownership. Conneaut spent hundreds of
thousands of taxpayers’ dollars to accommodate the prison, officials said. Last
year, when the $72.7 million sale of the prison to Corrections Corporation of
America was announced, some council members said the city should pursue a
reimbursement of its investment. Last month, the city and state composed a
memorandum of understanding that would keep OHP troopers on the job inside the
prison. Late last week, just before the transaction took effect, the city
received notice from the state attorney general’s office that it had concerns
with the agreement, saying troopers working inside a private security business
could pose legal liability concerns. A change in state statutes would be
necessary to secure the attorney general’s approval of the plan, Schroeder said.
Legislation authorizing the use of troopers at the LaECI is being fast-tracked
in Columbus, officials have said. State Rep. Casey Kozlowski, R-Pierpont, could
not be immediately reached Wednesday for a status update.
November 2, 2011 Star Beacon
Corrections Corporation of America will apparently start from scratch in its
search for employees for the state prison it plans to acquire at the start of
the year. Just about every employee at the Lake Erie Correctional Institution
will be laid off effective Dec. 31, according to paperwork filed last week with
the state by Management and Training Corporation, the Utah-based company that
has operated the prison since it opened in April 2000. In a notice MTC filed
with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, it will “permanently lay
off its employees” at LaECI and the North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility,
another prison operated by MTC. The action will affect 271 people at LaECI,
according to the notice — the same number of people listed as employees on the
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections web site. More than half of
the workers, 142 employees, are correctional officers, according to the notice.
The prison’s two deputy wardens are also on the lay-off list.
October 21, 2011 Star Beacon
The understanding that the Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Department may be
investigating crimes inside Conneaut’s prison next year came as a surprise to a
key player in the plan: Sheriff William Johnson. “I don’t know anything about
it,” he said Thursday. “All I know is what I read in the paper.” On Tuesday,
Conneaut city officials traveled to Columbus for a meeting with Gary Mohr,
director of Ohio’s Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The topic was
law enforcement responsibility inside the Lake Erie Correctional Institution
once it is sold to Corrections Corporation of America. While in state hands, the
Ohio State Highway Patrol handled all felony-level cases. Once a private prison,
the chore falls to law enforcement with local jurisdiction, according to the law
that authorized the sale. Conneaut was worried the duty would fall to its
understaffed police department. In Columbus, the delegation was told the Buckeye
State Sheriff’s Association had generally agreed investigations would be handled
by the sheriff’s department. On Thursday, Johnson said he had not been involved
in meetings regarding the prison. A few hours later, Johnson said he had been in
contact with the CCA and meetings will be arranged soon with all affected
parties, including the county and Conneaut. At those sessions, responsibilities
and — more importantly — how the added duty will be financed, will be ironed
out, he said. “We’re going to figure out how it will be done,” he said. “It’s
all about being able to finance it.” Like Conneaut, the sheriff’s department is
also enduring its share of money woes. Staff has been let go and patrols within
the county’s 27 townships have been trimmed because of budgetary problems. As a
private business, CCA is expected to pay around $1 million in property tax to
the Conneaut school district and city, as well as the county, A-Tech and
Conneaut Township Park. Johnson said the agency deemed responsible for prison
investigations may be able to earmark some of the tax revenue to pay for the
task. “If tax dollars are coming in, get the money to the people involved (in
investigations),” he said.
October 15, 2011 Star Beacon
A state prison spokesman on Friday held out hope that the Conneaut Police
Department won’t be unduly burdened by crimes occurring inside the Lake Erie
Correctional Institution when the prison goes private at the start of 2012.
Carlo LoParo, communications chief with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation
and Correction, said he was confident people will be satisfied with the policing
situation once officials have a chance to explain the process. “These are valid
concerns, and once we’re able to explain the process and procedures, I think
city officials and residents will be pleased,” he said. “People have questions
and we have answers.” At issue is City Council’s belief that the city of
Conneaut will be obliged to conduct criminal investigations within the LaECI
once it is sold to Corrections Corporation of America at the end of the year.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol takes on such felony-level investigations at
state-owned prisons. Legislation says those duties will fall to “local
jurisdictions” at privately-owned prisons, and some city officials take that to
mean the Conneaut Police Department — although the Ashtabula County Sheriff’s
Department has enforcement jurisdiction throughout the county. Earlier this
week, council was startled to hear the news, saying the police department can’t
handle the responsibility at current staffing levels. Some councilmen feared
much of the property tax revenue the city will earn from the privately-owned
prison will be gobbled up with police wages and benefits.
September 10, 2011 Star Beacon
The city of Conneaut is investigating whether it can recoup money it spent years
ago to make the Lake Erie Correctional Institution, soon to be a privately-owned
prison. Meanwhile, the Ohio Department of Taxation has confirmed that the prison
-- once it becomes a for-profit enterprise -- will indeed be paying property tax
to the city, local school district and county. Questions and doubts had surfaced
in recent days about the prison's tax status once the Corrections Corporation of
America is given the keys at the start of 2012. Earlier this week, Law Director
David Schroeder said he is investigating whether the city is entitled to reclaim
some of the taxpayer cash invested in land acquisition and infrastructure in the
1990s to win a prison and the jobs it would produce. Schroeder told City Council
this week that he is examining documents pertaining to the issue of possible
reimbursement. At the time, the city was working with another public entity --
the state of Ohio -- to make a publicly-financed prison a reality. The pending
sale of the prison to CCA in Nashville, Tenn., may put a new light on the
relationship, officials have said. "We were partners going into this," Schroeder
said. "The city struggled to find money to put into infrastructure." Carlo
LoParo, Ohio Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman, said Friday
he was unaware of Conneaut's interest in any reimbursement of spent funds. In
the 1990s, Conneaut aggressively pursued a super-maximum security prison touted
by the state. To that end, the city acquired hundreds of acres from USX Corp. on
the city's east side and offering it at no cost to the ODRC. The super-max
prison would go elsewhere, but soon after the state approved construction of a
new minimum/medium security prison. Conneaut sweetened its offer by offering to
bring municipal water and sewer service to the site. Finance Director John
Williams said this week the city obtained grants to help defray the cost of the
infrastructure, but still put about $500,000 cash into the project. In return,
the city obtained a huge water/sewer customer and receives income tax from
employees. As of mid-August, some 271 people worked at the prison, according to
the ODRC website. In related news, Gary Gudmundson, Ohio Department of Taxation
spokesman, reassured local and county officials Friday that CCR will make
property tax payments when the transaction is finalized at the start of the new
year. Ohio House Bill 153, which spells out the conditions of the sale of a
state prison -- no exceptions. The provision reads: "The act expressly subjects
a private contractor that enters into a contract to own and operate one of the
five prisons authorized by the act to state and municipal income taxes and the
commercial activity tax. Further, sales involving a contractor in the
contractor's role as a consumer or purchaser are subject to all state and local
sales and use taxes unless exempted under another existing provision of sales
and use tax law. After a prison facility is sold to a contractor, the facility
is placed on the county tax list and duplicate, with the effect of making the
facility subject to all real property taxes and assessments, with no exemption
from real property taxation applying to the conveyed facility." LaECI was sold
for $72.7 million. State Rep. Casey Kozlowski, R-Pierpont, said last week the
prison has been valued at $70.1 million, meaning CCA would pay around $1 million
in property tax annually. The money would be divvied between the Conneaut school
district, city, Ashtabula County, A-Tech (formerly the county's Joint Vocational
School) and Conneaut Township Park. The city could receive between 15 and 20
percent of the tax collection, Williams said. "We'll see some dollars from this
transaction," he said. Ashtabula County Auditor Roger Corlett said this week he
had no specific information on tax revenue the prison would generate, adding and
his office is investigating CCA's tax responsibility once the deal is sealed.
September 1, 2011 All Headline News
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections announced Thursday the
winning bidders in the $200 million privatization of prisons in Ashtabula and
Marion counties. Two out of three bidders won the contracts: Corrections Corp.
of America (CCA) of Nashville, TN, and Management and Training Corp. (MTC) of
Centerville, UT. The Geo Group Inc. of Boca Raton, FL, was the losing bidder.
The state of Ohio pushed through with the announcement after a Columbus judge
denied a restraining order by opposition groups to halt the process. Five adult
prisons out of the state's 32 corrections facilities were up for grabs. CCA will
take over the operations of Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Ashtabula
County, while MTC will manage Marion County's North Central Correctional
Institution and the vacant Marion Juvenile Correctional Facility. The MTC-operated
North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility in Lorain County will be turned over
to Ohio and merged with the state-operated Grafton Correctional Institution.
August 7, 2010 Star-Beacon
Officials at the Lake Erie Correctional Institution and Ohio State Highway
Patrol continue to investigate a fight one week ago, which landed 15 inmates in
solitary confinement. The review is proceeding at a deliberate pace, Rich
Gansheimer, LaECI warden, said Friday afternoon. The probe will not be rushed,
to ensure a thorough job, he said. “We want to get to the cause of it,” he said.
“We want to get the guys responsible.” One inmate was injured in a fight that
began around 4:30 p.m. in one of the housing units. He was taken to Ashtabula
County Medical Center for treatment and returned to the prison the same day. No
corrections officers or prison staff were injured, LaECI officials said. The
fight was broken up without the assistance of any outside agencies, according to
reports. Prison officials have declined to say how many inmates were involved or
whether weapons were used, saying those questions will be answered by the
investigation. OHP investigates all crimes that occur on state prison property.
August 2, 2010 AP
The state is investigating a fight at a private prison in northeastern Ohio that
resulted in 15 inmates punished with solitary confinement. Department of
Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said Monday the fight
happened about 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Lake Erie Correctional Institution.
Smith says no guards were injured and that one prisoner was treated at a local
hospital for injuries and returned to prison the same day. The prison system and
the state highway patrol are investigating. The prison run by Utah-based
Management and Training Corporation is a minimum and medium security facility
with about 1,500 inmates.
May 18, 2005 AP
Ashtabula County's budget problems are so severe that dozens of crimes
committed at one of the state's two privately operated prisons aren't being
prosecuted. The northeast Ohio county doesn't have enough money to handle all
the crimes reported, Prosecutor Thomas Sartini said. Some crimes reported at the
Lake Erie Correctional Institution are being overlooked as a result. "I
don't like not to prosecute any case that's a legitimate case," Sartini
said. "I've always taken the position that we're going to prosecute cases
to the fullest extent, but if I've got one hand tied behind my back, it's a
little tough to do. So we're in a position where we've had to make some calls.
The only crimes consistently prosecuted from the prison involve inmates
assaulting guards or attempts to smuggle drugs into the prison. State Highway
Patrol records show that inmate attacks on other inmates are usually overlooked.
Prisoners aren't being prosecuted for having weapons, either.
March 14, 2004
An inmate at the Lake Erie Correctional Institution was found badly beaten
Tuesday afternoon, officials said. The inmate, identified as Bobby Donaldson,
22, was reportedly struck by a padlock placed inside a sock, officials said.
(Star Beacon)
January 24, 2003
CONNEAUT - The state
prison perched on Conneaut's East Side generated nearly
$400,000
for the city's budget last year, nearly half of that in municipal income-tax
revenues, according to figures provided by Finance Director John Williams.
The information has been relayed to Gov. Bob Taft, who on Wednesday
confirmed he will close at least one state prison to help heal a $720 million
budget deficit. The Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Conneaut has not been
excluded, officials have said. The
medium-security prison is operated by Management and Training Corp., of Utah,
and MTC employees - more than 250 people - paid nearly $125,000 in city income
taxes, Williams said. The prison
also buys a huge amount of water from the city. Water revenue from the prison
was $88,000, while sewer revenue was $159,000, Williams said.
Conneaut counts on prison-related revenues to help pay off its
prison-related debt. To entice the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and
Correction to consider a Conneaut site for its first privately managed prison,
the city offered gifts of land and infrastructure.
While the state contributed more than $39 million to the prison project -
primarily in construction costs - Conneaut agreed to absorb nearly $2.1 million
in expenses. The city's expenses include sewer lines ($647,000), waterlines
($591,000), a mandatory water tank ($532,000) and land ($309,000). Loans were
obtained to help the city handle the costs.
The city bought nearly 500 acres of land from USX Corp. and donated some
175 acres to the state for the prison. The balance of the acreage is home to the
East Conneaut Industrial Park and the city's compost site.
State Rep. George Distel, D-Conneaut, has said the loss of the prison
would bankrupt the city since it would lose its main method of repaying the
prison debt. Distel has said he has shared Williams' information with Taft's
office. (The Staff)
Lucas County
Miscellaneous
September 22, 2003
The Lucas County Sheriff’s Office is seeking information on the whereabouts of
a jail inmate who escaped Monday from a West Toledo hospital, where he was
awaiting surgery for a jaw injury he had sustained the day before in a jail
elevator. John A. Perez, 23, whose last known address was in the 900 block
of Elm Street in Toledo, had finished taking a shower when he asked a guard
whether he could return to the bathroom in his second-floor room at St. Anne
Mercy Hospital so he could spit out blood from the jaw injury. He wasn’t
wearing leg irons because he had just gotten out of the shower. A private
security guard, who was hired by the sheriff’s office, turned his head, and
Mr. Perez ran out the door and down the hall and fire escape, wearing only a
hospital gown, authorities said. Mr. Perez was arrested Aug. 13 on two
counts of felonious assault. He is accused of shooting Anthony Contreras in the
right leg and firing at a vehicle driven by Dustin Evans on July 27 in East
Toledo. Anyone who can provide information on Mr. Perez’s whereabouts is
asked to call the Toledo Crime Stopper program at 419-255-1111. Callers
may remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward. (Toledo
Blade.com)
Mahoning
County Jail
Mahoning, Ohio
Prison Medical Services
November 25, 2002
Mahoning County will
pay more next year to provide medical
services for county jail inmates. The
county has contracted with Prison Medical Services of Brentwood, Tenn., since
the jail on Fifth Avenue opened in 1996. In
December, commissioners increased the monthly payment to PMS by $13,000, for
a
total of $102,000.
The company had threatened to drop the county without the increase
because it was losing too much money.
To help keep the cost down, commissioners will probably have to give up
an indemnification clause that has shielded the county from incurring any costs
for medical treatment required by inmates who are transferred to a hospital or
special treatment facility outside the jail.
Under those terms, the contract would cost the county $1,409,364 a year,
which is an increase of $183,186 over what the county pays now. (The
Vindicator)
Miami Fort Power
Plant
Cleves, Ohio
Wackenhut (Group 4)
December 20, 2004 Cincinnati Enquirer
A
security guard at a Cinergy power plant in Cleves has been accused of making a
false report of a bomb threat and other security breaches. Adam D. Griffin, 19,
of Lawrenceburg, Ind., was charged inducing panic, a fourth-degree felony, and
three misdemeanor counts of making a false alarm, according to the Hamilton
County Sheriff's office. Griffin is an employee of Wackenhut Security Corp. and
was working as a night security guard at Cinergy's Miami Fort power station.
Northeast
Ohio Correctional Center
Youngstown, Ohio
CCA
January 4, 2012 Salem News
Adolph Goodman, 33, Youngstown, was arrested at 12:38 a.m. Sunday for escaping
from the Corrections Corporation of America Correctional Facility in Youngstown
earlier that evening. He also had an active warrant out of Delaware County, Pa.,
for a probation violation. he was turned over the Mahoning County Sheriff's
Office.
November 16, 2010 Columbus Dispatch
A woman who was held hostage by an escaped inmate at a Hilliard business in 2007
settled her lawsuit with a private-prison company and two guards today after a
week of testimony in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. Karen Zappitelli and
her husband, John, reached a confidential settlement with Corrections
Corporation of America and the guards as the final witness for the couple was
waiting to take the stand this morning, said Rex Elliott, one of the couple's
attorneys. "Today is a day where a sense of relief has been provided," Elliott
said. "This enables them to close the book on this chapter in their lives."
Lawyers for both sides began negotiating this morning at the urging of Judge
Michael J. Holbrook. A spokesman for Corrections Corporation of America did not
return a message seeking comment. Mrs. Zappitelli, 45, testified yesterday,
detailing the three hours she spent as the hostage of fugitive inmate Billy Jack
Fitzmorris. He broke into her husband's accounting business on April 2, 2007, at
the end of a crime rampage that began when he overpowered the two guards at a
Youngstown hospital. When testimony ended yesterday, jurors were hearing from
one of two psychologists who diagnosed Mrs. Zappitelli with post-traumatic
stress disorder. Mrs. Zappitelli said she has been plagued by anxiety,
nightmares, sleeping problems and a fear of being alone since the incident. The
lawsuit accused Corrections Corporation of America and the guards, David Johnson
and Brian Morgan, of negligence in Fitzmorris' escape and sought monetary
damages for the couple's emotional suffering.
November 16, 2010 Columbus Dispatch
After spending three hours as the hostage of an escaped inmate, Karen
Zappitelli wanted nothing more than her old life back. "It was like someone
stamped freak on my forehead," she testified yesterday in Franklin County Common
Pleas Court. "I felt like a freak. ... What I craved more than anything was
normalcy." Zappitelli spent nearly two hours on the witness stand in a civil
lawsuit that she and her husband filed against a private prison and two guards,
accusing them of negligence in the escape of Billy Jack Fitzmorris from a
Youngstown hospital on April2, 2007. Fitzmorris overpowered the guards, taking
one of their guns, and went on a crime rampage that ended at John Zappitelli's
accounting firm in Hilliard, where he kicked in the front door and took Karen
Zappitelli, who worked as the office manager, captive. The only other employee
at the Norwich Street building managed to escape by jumping from a second-floor
window. Karen Zappitelli, 45, remained calm and composed throughout her
testimony, the same approach that she credited with getting her through the
hostage situation. "(Fitzmorris) was totally irrational," she said. "He was a
mad, irrational, panicked, desperate man. ... All I could do was stay calm. I
didn't want to provoke him." At one point, she asked whether he was Christian
and told him she was praying "that we would be brought out of the building
alive." For most of the ordeal, they sat on the floor upstairs, where he dragged
her after breaking into the business. He sat behind her, one leg wrapped around
her, one hand clutching her jacket. He used her cell phone to speak with family
members and police negotiators. He finally released her and surrendered after
police brought him a pizza. Zappitelli said she has been plagued by sleeping
problems, nightmares and anxiety since that day. She testified that she remains
afraid of being alone, taking showers only if her husband can be in the bathroom
with her. "I feel very vulnerable, knowing there is no safety in a locked door,"
she said. Defense attorney Dan Struck, representing the guards and Corrections
Corporation of America, asked a series of questions designed to show that
Zappitelli's life today is much like it was before the incident. He showed
pictures from her Facebook page of her enjoying recent trips and holiday
gatherings. Zappitelli said Fitzmorris told her that he didn't have a gun, which
he had left outside in a car, and assured his family members on the phone that
he wouldn't hurt her. The defense is expected to begin calling witnesses today.
It will be up to jurors to determine monetary damages if they rule in favor of
the Zappitellis.
November 10, 2010 Columbus Dispatch
Billy Jack Fitzmorris escaped custody in April 2007. More than three years have
passed since inmate Billy Jack Fitzmorris escaped from guards at a Youngstown
hospital and went on a crime rampage that ended with his capture in central
Ohio. The woman whom he took hostage at a Hilliard business continues to suffer
with "emotional scars that she will have forever," her attorney told a Franklin
County jury yesterday. Karen Zappitelli and her husband, John, both 45, are
suing a private-prison company and the officers who were guarding Fitzmorris
when he escaped on April 2, 2007. Corrections Corporation of America and the
guards, David Johnson and Brian Morgan, are responsible for turning the
Zappitellis' lives upside down through their negligence, attorney Rex H. Elliott
said during opening statements in Common Pleas Court. An attorney for the
defendants said the company and the guards had no reason to believe that
Fitzmorris was an escape risk or was likely to hurt anyone. The person
responsible for Zappitelli's trauma was Fitzmorris, who is not named in the
lawsuit, said attorney Tim Bojanowski. Also unnamed is the hospital, St.
Elizabeth Medical Center, which he said imposed conditions on the guards that
helped lead to the escape. The trial in the courtroom of Judge Michael J.
Holbrook is expected to last at least two weeks. If jurors rule in the couple's
favor, it would be up to them to decide how much money would be awarded.
May 11, 2010 WFMJ
A woman accused of assaulting a police officer at the scene of a school bus
accident last week has escaped from the Mahoning county jail. Officials said
Leslie Hood was released by a court order to a Corrections Corporation of
America facility Tuesday morning, but fled once she got there. Hood is accused
of driving on the sidewalk on Friday to get through an accident scene involving
a Howland school bus and a vehicle. Police said Hood bumped an officer with her
car twice. She is facing charges of aggravated assault, obstruction of justice
and misconduct on the scene of an emergency. A bench warrant is being issued for
Hood's arrest.
January 26, 2010 The Vindicator
Corrections Corp. of America, which operates the Northeast Ohio Correctional
Center on Hubbard Road, has sued the city, saying the city’s recently enacted $1
per-prisoner per-day tax on private prisons violates the U.S. and Ohio
constitutions and the city charter. A deputy city law director, however, said
the prisoner accommodation tax ordinance city council passed last year is valid.
The Nashville-based CCA filed the lawsuit Friday in Mahoning County Common Pleas
Court, where the case is assigned to Judge R. Scott Krichbaum. No court hearing
has been scheduled. The new tax, which took effect Dec. 1, “discriminates
against interstate commerce” in violation of the commerce clause of the U.S.
Constitution, the lawsuit said. Because all inmates at NOCC are prisoners or
detainees of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons or the U.S. Marshal’s Service, and CCA
is acting as “an instrumentality of the federal government,” the fee also
violates the intergovernmental tax immunity doctrine in the supremacy clause of
the Constitution, the suit says. The tax violates the equal-protection clauses
of the U.S. and Ohio constitutions because “the fee serves no legitimate public
purpose, and there is no rational basis for the discrimination between CCA and
any other entity housing prisoners within the city,” the suit says. The tax also
violates the city charter because council improperly enacted it as an emergency
measure and “because it is an occupational tax, which has not been submitted to
the electorate,” the corporation’s complaint says. The lawsuit, filed on behalf
of the corporation by Atty. Timothy J. Bojanowski of Phoenix, asks the court to
declare the tax unconstitutional and void it, prohibit the city from collecting
it, and bar the city from punishing the corporation for not paying it. Last
month, CCA sent the city a letter saying the corporation objected to the tax and
wasn’t going to pay it, the lawsuit says. “This is entirely within our rights as
a city to do this. It does not violate the interstate commerce clause. ... There
is no intent to penalize interstate commerce,” said Anthony Farris, deputy city
law director. The ordinance was projected to generate slightly more than
$500,000 annually for the city’s general fund, which pays the city’s general
expenses, including those of police and fire protection, Farris said. “We
believe we are entitled to these proceeds,” Farris said, adding that the city
hasn’t yet received any revenue under this ordinance. In June 2009, council
passed an emergency ordinance imposing the tax for prisoners convicted of crimes
occurring outside Mahoning County, after the city unsuccessfully tried to
negotiate such a payment from CCA, Farris said. In response to the corporation’s
objections, council amended the ordinance in November to encompass all convicted
prisoners housed within the city by a private institution regardless of where
their crimes occurred, Farris said. “We analyzed it again, and we wanted to make
sure we were absolutely correct so that we would prevail in this litigation
should it occur. ... We wanted to make sure that we were absolutely 100 percent
right, which we are,” Farris explained. “Their business brings prisoners —
criminals — into the area. That’s something that has to be addressed by all
aspects of government. There are law-enforcement issues with that. One has to
maintain a state of readiness when you have a large amount of criminals in your
area, and we feel that that justifies this fee,” Farris concluded.
December 8, 2008 The Vindicator
Mahoning County officials are concerned about the prospect of a direct federal
contract with the private prison on Hubbard Road to house revenue-generating
federal inmates. County officials fear such a contract may cause a costly
reduction after Jan. 1 in the number of federal inmates in the Mahoning County
jail. “We’re not going to be able to keep that jail open at the capacity that it
is right now,” without about 150 revenue-generating prisoners, either from the
federal government or the city, said county Commissioner David N. Ludt.
Officials of the county commissioners’, prosecutor’s and sheriff’s offices went
to Cleveland last week, where they conferred in chambers with a panel of three
federal judges on this issue. County officials sought the meeting with the
judges after the Corrections Corp. of America informed them it intended to
contract directly with the federal government through the Office of the Federal
Detention Trustee to house federal prisoners at CCA’s Northeast Ohio
Correctional Center on Hubbard Road. The judges then ordered the county to file
by Jan. 15 “a comprehensive audit” of county jail operations over the past 18
months. This audit is to include the number and sources of its prisoners, and a
statement of revenue from the county sales tax and from federal and city
prisoners housed there, and how that revenue has been used. Judges Alice M.
Batchelder, David D. Dowd Jr. and Dan Aaron Polster said they need this
information before they can decide what, if any, action to take. Sheriff Randall
Wellington said his office will perform the audit. Except for Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, which still pays the old rate of $68.84 a day, the federal
government pays the county $80 per prisoner per day for federal inmates it
places in the county jail. The city pays $80 a day for each misdemeanor prisoner
it places in the county jail beyond its 71st inmate. The total inmate capacity
is 458 in the main jail and 96 in the misdemeanor jail. As of midnight
Wednesday, there were 423 inmates in the main jail and 82 in the misdemeanor
jail, for a total of 505. The federal judges are overseeing compliance with a
consent order that settled a federal class action lawsuit won by county jail
inmates. That lawsuit, filed in 2003, alleged unconstitutionally crowded
conditions prevailed in the jail. The settlement requires that the jail be fully
open — as it is now — and it includes the arrangement for revenue-producing city
and federal prisoners to be housed there. Without an adequate number of
revenue-producing inmates in the jail, the county’s ability to keep the jail
fully open is jeopardized, said Glenn Kountz, president of Fraternal Order of
Police Lodge 141, which represents deputy sheriffs staffing the jail. “That’s
the quagmire we find ourselves in right now,” he observed. However, Kountz, who
attended the Cleveland meeting, said the federal judges reported the U.S.
Marshals they spoke to expressed no intention to remove federal inmates from the
jail. Pete Elliott, U.S. marshal for the Northern District of Ohio, told The
Vindicator he does not intend to remove federal inmates from the jail. “There is
no crisis,” Wellington said, adding that he foresees no disruption in the flow
of federal prisoners to the county jail from ICE or from U.S, marshals in
northern or southern Ohio or western New York. Wellington estimated his
department now houses just under 150 federal inmates and 20 or fewer
revenue-producing city prisoners. In May 2007, when the county resumed housing
federal prisoners after a two-year hiatus, the county derived $1,829,982 from
housing federal and city prisoners, of which $130,373 came from the city. So far
this year, the county has received $4,311,424 for its revenue-generating
prisoners, of which $1,066,535 came from the city. The $4.3 million represents
more than 21 percent of the sheriff’s $20 million annual budget. In a court
filing, lawyers for the county and the prisoners who sued the county said the
federal government would no longer need an agreement with the county to house
prisoners in its jail if Corrections Corp. of America contracted directly with
the federal government to house federal prisoners at CCA’s Hubbard Road
facility. “This decision may have a significant impact on the county’s ability
to house a sufficient number of federal prisoners and to thereby comply with the
consent order and with the boarding of prisoners agreement with the city,” wrote
Linette M. Stratford, assistant county prosecutor, and Robert Armbruster, the
lawyer for the prisoners who filed the lawsuit. The federal government now has a
contract with the county to house its prisoners in the county jail and at NOCC.
A change in federal law will allow the federal government to enter into contract
directly with a private company, such as the Nashville-based CCA, to house
federal prisoners. However, Wellington said: “That doesn’t shut off the faucet
for inmates coming here.” Ludt suggested federal officials may be seeking a
contract with CCA because they think that company will offer a lower rate than
the county. Founded in 2001, the Office of the Federal Detention Trustee is part
of the U.S. Department of Justice. A spokeswoman for the trustee said her office
has oversight over U.S. Marshals Service detention, but not over Immigration and
Customs Enforcement or U.S. Bureau of Prisons detention. However, she said ICE
and BOP sometimes send prisoners to detention centers under trustee contracts.
September 12, 2008 WFMJ TV
A prisoner who took hostages at Saint Elizabeth Medical Center is on trial.
Billie Jack Fitzmorris is in Federal Court in Columbus, charged with escape.
Fitzmorris was serving time at Youngstown's private prison last year, but was
taken to Saint E's for an illness. Authorities say he took prison guards and
hospital workers hostage, then forced an Austintown man to drive him to Columbus
where he went on a bank robbery spree. He was eventually caught at a suburban
Columbus home, where he held a woman hostage.
March 18, 2008 The Huffington Report
At a moment when Democratic Party officials are urging voters to trust
unelected superdelegates to act in the country's best interests, HuffPost's
OffTheBus investigation into the background of DNC superdelegates reveals at
least one appointed superdelegate who is as likely to use his political
connections for personal profit as for the greater good. Take the case of Joseph
F. Johnson, a member-at-large of the Democratic National Committee from
Chantilliy, Virginia -a suburb of Washington D.C. -- and a superdelegate
currently tilting toward Hillary Clinton. Using his web of connections, Johnson
successfully lobbied for the construction of a private prison linked to a
company on whose board he sat; he managed to have that prison contract with
other companies he was linked to; and though the prison became a notorious and
dangerous failure, Johnson benefited personally, pulling in millions of dollars
in stock options and fees. Johnson first rose through the ranks of the
Democratic machine in the early 1990s, as executive director of Jesse Jackson's
Rainbow PUSH Coalition. He brought with him strong ties to D.C. government that
he'd built after his first job in the nation's capital, as chief of staff for
the city of Washington DC's city council head. He also managed Douglas Wilder's
successful campaign to become Virginia's first African-American governor in
1991. And Johnson advised Mark Warner on his successful 2001 gubernatorial bid
in Virginia. Johnson's reputation as a mover and shaker in D.C. Democratic
politics helped pave the way for his appointment to the board of Corrections
Corporation of America, the largest operator of private prisons in the country.
While serving in that position from 1996 to 1999, Johnson was instrumental in
convincing the local government in Washington, DC to pay CCA to run a prison in
Youngstown, Ohio for DC inmates, according to SEC filings for the company.
Meanwhile, two of Johnson's own companies, National Corrections and
Rehabilitation (NCRC) and MedCorr, were contracted to provide employment
rehabilitation and health services in the same prison he helped establish. The
private Ohio prison which Johnson helped establish was, according to
Youngstown's then-mayor, "a nightmare." By 1998, there had been two fatal
stabbings, 44 assaults, and six escapes at the prison. A Department of Justice
report found that under CCA, the prison had "failed to accomplish the basic
mission of correctional safety;" and prisoners eventually collected $1.65
million in damages and legal costs for their treatment under CCA. News reports
traced the problems at the prison to both CCA's management and D.C. Corrections'
practice of sending high-security inmates to the medium-security facility. The
problems, Johnson told the Washington Post at the time, weren't "anyone's fault,
it was just one of those things." Mr. Johnson nonetheless profited from the
deal, receiving $2.6 million in stock options for his work linking CCA with
officials in Washington, D.C. Calling his work "instrumental" to their receipt
of the contract, CCA said that Mr. Johnson had "exceeded his duties and
obligations" to the company and also paid him $382,000 for his "consulting
services" in helping to arrange the deal, and $991,000 for NCRC's services in
another CCA prison in Texas. Johnson had also helped arrange for Washington,
D.C. to sell one of its local prisons to CCA in 1996. Local activists complained
that procurement rules had been skipped over to hand the bid to CCA, but the
deal ultimately went through, and CCA then managed the facility and used NCRC to
provide services to inmates. When the Washington Post asked Johnson if he
considered his dual roles as a conflict of interest, he replied, "Not in my
mind." Two years later, the Washington Post reported that CCA faced $1.3 million
in fines for failing to provide services to inmates, including $536,000 in fines
for failing to properly administer medications and another $77,400 for failing
to provide vision services. The city's Department of Corrections, despite being
$8.8 million in the red, suspended most of the fines, according to Post reports
from the time. Johnson has over time expanded his list of companies; NCRC is
technically a subsidiary of his firm, the Johnson Companies [www.jcmps.com].
Under that umbrella, Mr. Johnson also houses the Houston-based Satellite
Tracking of People, LLC (STOP), which deals in GPS tracking devices for inmates
and parolees; the Nashville-based ConnectGov, Inc, which coordinates distance
learning; and the National Preparedness Training Center, which trains first
responders to disasters.
September 7, 2007 The Vindicator
A corrections officer told police that she was punched by an inmate at the
private prison on Hubbard Road. Although the attack is alleged to have occurred
Aug. 30, the 41-year-old guard didn't file a report with city police until
Wednesday, saying she did so after contacting an attorney. She told police that
several individuals at Northeast Ohio Correctional Center had advised her not to
report what happened. Candace Rivera, prison spokesman, said incidents that
occur at the facility, which houses mostly illegal criminal aliens for the
federal Bureau of Prisons, are investigated internally and the findings turned
over to the FBI. She said any charge against an inmate would be federal, not
through the city prosecutor. Rivera said employees are advised that they can
contact city police if they want to file a report but the jurisdiction is not
the city's for an assault charge. Rivera said the report of an assault is the
first serious incident since the prison reopened in 2005 with federal inmates.
May 25, 2007 The Vindicator
A one-time counselor at the private prison on Hubbard Road slipped cocaine,
cigarettes, cell phones and MP3 players to an inmate, the government said. A
federal grand jury in Cleveland issued a two-count indictment Thursday charging
Michael K. Pearson, 35, of Fairmont Avenue, with bribery and providing
contraband in prison. The indictment describes Pearson as a public official who
accepted cash from an inmate for the prohibited items. The indictment alleges
that Pearson brought contraband into the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center from
January through August 2006. Pearson could not be reached. Pearson was hired at
NOCC on Dec. 6, 2004, and fired Aug. 25, 2006, for policy violations, said
Candace Rivera, prison spokeswoman. Results of the prison's investigation were
turned over to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General
and the U.S. attorney's office in Cleveland. Rivera said Pearson's duties as a
counselor required him to act as liaison between inmates and prison officials.
Counselors take care of inmate's issues, such as grievances, and make sure they
complete work assignments, she said. Special OIG Agent Terrence Hake described
Pearson in a 12-page affidavit as a correction officer/counselor. Hake said an
informant inside the prison revealed to guards that Pearson was bringing in
prohibited items, such as marijuana, cigarettes, radios, MP3 players, body
building supplements and heroin — for one inmate.
May 24, 2007 The Vindicator
An Austintown man who said he was carjacked by an escaped federal prisoner
in a St. Elizabeth Health Center parking lot and held at gunpoint for three
hours as the man drove him to the Columbus area, sued the hospital and the
prison. Richard Orto Sr., 53, of Innwood Drive, filed the lawsuit this week
against St. Elizabeth and the Corrections Corp. of America's Northeast Ohio
Correctional Center on Hubbard Road. He alleges the April 2 carjacking, spawned
by neglect of proper security precautions, caused him "extreme mental agony and
emotional distress." The suit, which seeks damages in excess of $25,000 and
demands a jury trial, was filed in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court by Atty.
John A. McNally III. Escape from hospital - The prisoner, Billy Jack Fitzmorris,
escaped from the hospital, where he was being treated, after using a homemade
knife to overpower, disarm and handcuff a NOCC guard, police said. Fitzmorris
took another guard and two nurses hostage for about 15 minutes, donned the
overpowered guard's uniform, fled the hospital and carjacked Orto with the
guard's .38-caliber revolver, authorities said. Orto managed to escape when
Fitzmorris stopped at a Columbus area convenience store. Fitzmorris went on to
rob two central Ohio banks, wreck the car in Hilliard and hold two more women
hostage, before surrendering in Hilliard and being held in Franklin County jail
on multiple charges. Tina Creighton, hospital public information officer, said
she couldn't comment specifically on the suit, but she said the hospital
"strives to provide a safe and secure environment for all our visitors and
patients." Orto and a NOCC representative could not be reached to comment.
May 20, 2007 Vindicator
A prison inmate accused of escaping during a hospital visit in Youngstown
was charged with robbing two banks and taking hostages before surrendering.
Billy Jack Fitzmorris, 34, also was indicted Thursday on three gun violations in
the April 2 escapade. Fitzmorris was at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center,
the private prison on Hubbard Road, Youngstown, awaiting sentencing on federal
drug charges when he went to St. Elizabeth Health Center for treatment.
Investigators say he overpowered two guards, stole an officer's gun and then
drove a carjacked vehicle about 150 miles to the Columbus area, where he robbed
the banks of more than $50,000. Police said they chased Fitzmorris to a house in
Hilliard, where he kicked in the door and held two women hostage. One escaped
out of a second-floor window, and the second was released when Fitzmorris
surrendered about two hours later, officers said. Fitzmorris could receive 45
years in prison when he's sentenced May 31 on the earlier cocaine convictions.
Authorities said they believe most of the money from the bank robberies has been
recovered.
April 3, 2007 AP
A Youngstown man said he tried to maintain calm conversation and keep an eye out
for a chance to make a getaway as he was driven across Ohio by an escaped prison
inmate accused of carjacking him at gunpoint after overpowering guards at a
hospital. "I just kept asking questions to take his mind off of whatever he was
going to do to me. I was trying to be his buddy because I thought, 'You wouldn't
hurt your buddy,'" Richard Orto said Tuesday. "It was the only thing I could
think of at the time, that the calmer he was, the better I was." Orto said he
was carjacked as he circled the lot at St. Elizabeth Hospital Medical Center in
Youngstown on Monday, looking for a spot to park so he could pick up his mother,
who was being discharged. He said the carjacker approached the car and stuck a
gun through the partially open driver's side window and told him to slide into
the passenger seat. Billy Jack Fitzmorris, 34, an inmate at Northeast Ohio
Correctional Center in Youngstown, was being treated at the hospital when he
overpowered prison guards, stealing a gun from one of them, before he forced his
way into Orto's car, authorities said. Orto said the two spent the next three
hours together. Fitzmorris drove the Chevrolet Impala about 150 miles from
Youngstown to the suburbs of Columbus, where he was eventually arrested Monday
afternoon after he robbed two banks and holed up for hours in a house with a
hostage, authorities said. Throughout the drive, Fitzmorris kept the gun tucked
between his leg and the car's center console, Orto said. "As we drove down we
talked. He was nervous and I was trying to keep him happy so that I could get my
own skin out of there," Orto said. "He told me as long as I was good, I would be
released unharmed." Fitzmorris responded to his questions, Orto said, and talked
about getting away to a place with no phones where he couldn't be found. Orto
told him about his family and his mother, hoping Fitzmorris would start to think
of him as a family man. Orto contemplated trying to escape when the car stopped
at a few intersections, but decided Fitzmorris and the gun were too close to
take a chance. Finally, Fitzmorris pulled into a shopping center in suburban
Powell, got out of the car and tucked the gun into the sleeve of his shirt, Orto
said. "All this time (in the car) I was thinking about how I was going to get
away," Orto said. "I just saw this as the best opportunity." "I took my shot
when I felt that he couldn't get it out," he said. Figuring it would take
Fitzmorris a few crucial seconds to get to the gun, Orto said, he darted out of
the car and ran across the parking lot into a UPS store, where employees called
911. Orto's girlfriend drove down to Columbus to pick him up Monday night after
he finished talking to law enforcement officials. While he said he's thankful he
made it out unscathed, Orto thinks the operators of the prison owe him an
explanation for how Fitzmorris was able to escape. "They've not contacted me,
but I think they should," he said.
April 3, 2007 AP
A report found that the private prison that housed an escaped Youngstown inmate
had an unusually high rate of inmates attacking other inmates. The report by the
state Correctional Institution Inspection Committee says the Northeast Ohio
Correctional Center reported 44 inmate-on-inmate attacks in a 12-month period in
2005 and 2006. By contrast, the state reported a total of 305 such assaults for
all 32 state facilities in 2005. The July 2006 report also questioned the
facility's 55 total inmate grievances for the same 12-month period, calling it
an extremely low figure for a prison. The report says a low number of grievances
can be a sign that inmates have lost faith in the system for reporting problems.
April 3, 2007 The Enquirer
A police SWAT team and federal marshals captured an escaped convict from
Youngstown Monday after surrounding a home-office in Hilliard. No one was hurt,
police said. The armed convict took a woman hostage for about two hours before
his arrest. A second woman jumped from a second-floor window, according to
witnesses. Convict Billy Jack Fitzmorris, 34, robbed two banks, one in Powell
and another in Upper Arlington, after escaping from a hospital in Youngstown
earlier Monday, police said. Columbus police spotted his car on Interstate 270
and chased him to Hilliard. Fitzmorris took a prison guard's gun and uniform
Monday morning after threatening him with a shank at St. Elizabeth's Hospital.
The blue and white uniform bore the insignia of Corrections Corp. of America,
the private prison operator. At least a dozen officers from Columbus and the
Franklin County Sheriff's Department entered the ground floor of the Hilliard
home - which doubled as an accountant's office - with guns drawn. Fitzmorris was
on the second floor, police said. Hilliard schools were locked down during the
incident at Norwich and Main streets near I-270. Fitzmorris had been imprisoned
in Youngstown for robbery, burglary and possession of stolen property after a
1997 carjacking. Federal officials said Fitzmorris "had nothing to lose" because
he faces a lengthy prison sentence for his multiple crimes.
July 17, 2006 Tribune Chronicle
A 32-year-old Warren man who police say sparked neighborhood manhunts over
sexual assaults last year faces potential life sentences for rape. Jury
selection is scheduled to get under way today for James L. Cline Jr., who has
remained in Trumbull County Jail for nearly a year in lieu of a $500,000 bond.
Potential jurors have been called to the courtroom of Judge John M. Stuard for
the trial that could run four or five days. The case against Cline involved
young girls in Niles and Warren who were sexually attacked or molested on their
way to or from school or near local parks. Cline was taken into custody Sept. 14
on a parole violation after the third teen reported she was attacked that
morning on her way to East Middle School, Warren police said. After the arrest,
Niles police started building a case against Cline since they said crimes there
in July occurred in similar fashion. In Warren, Cline was indicted for three
attacks that occurred during a seven-day span beginning Sept. 8. A Sept. 14
attack involved a 14-year-old girl, and one day earlier a 13-year-old girl was
attacked, also on her way to East Middle School, police say. The first attack
occurred to a 15-year-old girl walking home from Warren G. Harding High School
near the railroad tracks at Woodland Avenue N.E. She told police the man
surprised her from behind, pulled her into a nearby wooded area and assaulted
her, police say. In Niles, on July 1, 2005, two 11-year-old girls told police
they were in Kennedy Park in the late afternoon when a man approached them,
pulled out a gun and ordered them to follow him into the woods near Mosquito
Creek between Fairhaven School and the park’s basketball courts. Police said the
man sexually assaulted both girls in a similar manner to the teens in Warren.
After the assault, the man ordered the girls to start walking. He turned his
back on them, the girls said, and they ran away. Authorities say when the Niles
assaults occurred, Cline was on a 48-hour furlough from Corrections Corporation
of America.
May 22, 2006 Forbes
Youngstown, Ohio has tried to ignite an economic
revival-- by building prisons. When the Ohio State Department of Corrections
decided to move death row to Youngstown's supermaximum security prison a year
ago, then mayor George McKelvey was part of the welcoming committee. The city
was already home to Ohio's most dangerous inmates, and there were already three
more prisons, two jails and two halfway houses in the surrounding area. "Our
community is grateful for its presence here," McKelvey said of the move to add a
lethal component, "and the millions of dollars it contributes to our local
economy." If only. In fact, the metro region has been in decline since the
shutdown of the Youngstown Sheet & Tube's steelworks in 1977, the first of
50,000 industrial layoffs over the next decade. Turning to prison building over
the last ten years hasn't created the hoped-for economic salvation. Average
annual real income and job growth over the last five years have been
pitiful--negative 2.4% and negative 0.9%, respectively. Seeing little but bleak
opportunity, folks have been leaving the area at a rate of 0.4% a year. About
the only bright stat you can point to: The Youngstown-Warren-Boardman area has a
low crime rate--3,508 offenses per 100,000 people. Perhaps that's because most
of the ruffians are already in jail. Placing 198 out of 200 major metro regions,
Youngstown wins our booby prize this year. Who thought that backing the big
house would lead to bigger times? It was Patrick Ungaro, Mayor McKelvey's
predecessor, who, between 1993 and 1995, offered state officials and
private-prison owner Corrections Corporation of America free land and, in CCA's
case, a seven-year 50% tax abatement and new water and sewer lines. In return
Youngstown builders and suppliers got $127 million worth of contracts, the city
received an annual $895,000 boost in tax revenue and upward of 900 people
obtained jobs as guards, janitors, cooks and health care workers. The strategy
seemed to work for a while. The two prisons, along with the county jails, the
halfway houses, Warren state prison (which opened in 1992) and nearby Elkton's
federal prison (1997) created quite an industry. Between 1992 and 1997
Youngstown's gross metro product rose at an average 3.4% a year net of
inflation. The lift was not to last. Regional unemployment was a recent 6.7%,
down from 7.2% a year ago, thanks to upswings at metal manufacturers Exal Corp.
and V&M Tube and at Kmart and Toys "R" Us, which have warehouses there. The
problem is that Youngstown hasn't been able to attract much in the way of new
ventures or growing corporations to the area. Not for want of trying. In 2003
the Chamber of Commerce attempted to lure Boeing, to build its 787. The
aerospace giant opted out, officially because a coastal city made better sense
for receiving large shipments of parts. It appears, though, that the lack of a
highly skilled labor force played a role. Only one in six adults in the region
has a college degree. Besides, says John Russo, a Youngstown State University
business professor, "If I were a businessman, I'd look around and ask, 'Do I
really want be in an area that's basically a penal colony?'" Finding
neighborhood boosters is nigh impossible. "It's a bleak, sick, sad and pathetic
reality," says talk radio host Louie Free. "Prisons just fuel the cycle."
Youngstown's new mayor, Jay Williams, is hoping to break the cycle. The city has
given $200,000 or so in grants to a downtown auditorium and will spend $100,000
this year to improve lighting and landscaping. Williams is also pledging up to
$1 million in taxpayer money to build space for young high-tech companies that
graduate from an existing, nonprofit incubator. Who knows? Maybe some genius
there will invent a robotic chain gang foreman.
May 2, 2005 Vindicator
A Willoughby Hills accountant, who pleaded guilty about a week ago to 29
federal criminal counts, committed suicide by cutting his throat with a razor in
the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center private prison on Hubbard Road. An
NOCC corrections officer found Paul A. Rendina, 53, in his cell breathing at
5:26 a.m. Sunday. Rendina had cut himself with a razor on the left and right
sides of his neck and on both arms, a Youngstown police report said. The
Federal Bureau of Prisons awarded a contract in December to Corrections
Corporation of America of Nashville, parent company of NOCC. The contract calls
for the federal government to house federal prisoners classified as low security
at the Hubbard Road facility.
November 5, 2004 Corrections
Professional
Ruling: An inmate's claim that he should have been paid the same wages as
workers in the private sector was rejected by an appeals court. Summary: Robert
R. Ziegler said while he was an Oklahoma state prisoner managed by Corrections
Corporation of America, he performed work for a company called Hy-Tec. He filed
a lawsuit against CCA and two company employees stating that his due process
rights had been violated when Hy-Tec failed to pay him the prevailing wage for
his work. Ziegler's complaint also asserted that CCA officials violated a state
statute by using his net rather than gross wages in determining how much money
to deposit in his inmate savings account. Finally, Ziegler said his due process
right was violated, as well as his Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel
and unusual punishment. The District Court dismissed Ziegler's claims. On
appeal, Ziegler challenged the dismissal of his wage-related claims. In
particular, he argued that he had a constitutionally protected liberty interest
in being paid the prevailing wage. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
reviewed Ziegler's property and liberty interest claims arising from prison
conditions and determined that Ziegler's complaints did not present an atypical
deprivation. The appeals court affirmed the decision of the lower court.
September 9, 2004 The Tennessean
Recent actions in two states could delay or kill Corrections Corporation of
America's efforts to win contracts to house new prison inmates there. In
Georgia, the state's procurement office because of ''budget'' reasons has
canceled a request for proposals on a contract to house 1,000 inmates, said Pat
Swindle, an analyst at investment banking firm Avondale Partners of Nashville.
CCA was one of the bidders on the contract and, if successful, had planned to
house the inmates at its Stewart County Correctional Facility in Lumpkin, Ga.
Swindle, in a stock research report issued yesterday, also cited actions in
Connecticut that could affect CCA's bid to win a contract to house up to 2,500
inmates. M. Jodi Rell, that state's new governor, just announced plans to bring
home by year-end the 400 Connecticut inmates housed in a Virginia prison. She
also has expressed a lack of interest in sending Connecticut inmates to
privatized prisons outside the state, Swindle said.
May 1, 2004 Corrections Caselaw
Quarterly
Warren v. District of Columbia, 353 F.3d 36 (D.C.Cir. 2004). A prisoner brought
a pro se [section] 1983 action against the District of Columbia, alleging that
he suffered constitutional violations while incarcerated in a private prison
operated under contract with the District. The district court dismissed the
claim and the prisoner appealed. The appeals court reversed and remanded,
finding that the prisoner's allegations that the District had, or should have
had, knowledge of alleged constitutional violations were sufficient to state a
claim against the District under [section] 1983. The prisoner alleged that
private prison officials used common needles to draw blood from prisoners.
(Corrections Corporation of America, Youngstown, Ohio)
March 26, 2004
Mahoning County commissioners were slapped with a lawsuit and
unkind words Thursday from the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 141.
"They don't do their jobs," FOP president Glenn
Kountz said of commissioners. "They get paid $65,000 a year to do a
part-time job and they don't even do that." The
FOP filed a lawsuit in common pleas court against Commissioners Ed Reese, Vicki
Allen Sherlock and David Ludt, and against Sheriff Randall Wellington.
It says that a plan to bring federal inmates to Mahoning County
and house them in a private prison on the city's East Side violates terms of the
FOP's contract. Local 141 represents deputy sheriffs. Commissioners
and other county officials have worked for months to strike a deal with federal
authorities for housing the federal inmates at the Northeast Ohio Correctional
Center on Hubbard Road. The first busload of inmates was due to arrive Thursday.
About 70 federal inmates are regularly kept in the county jail
while they await appearances in federal court. The federal government reimburses
the county $67 per day for each inmate kept there. What's
behind suit Under the new plan, more federal
inmates would be brought to the county and kept at NOCC, for which the county
also would be reimbursed by the federal government. Those inmates would be
guarded and monitored by NOCC employees, not the sheriff's department. The
county would then pay Corrections Corporation of America the money it receives
from the federal government, minus a small administrative fee. CCA is the parent
company that operates the private prison. The FOP
says the problem is that the plan violates a clause in its contract that
prohibits contracting out work that is normally done by union employees.
The lawsuit sought a restraining order to keep the county from
accepting inmates at NOCC until the dispute is settled. However, about 150
inmates already were on the way here from Maryland when the suit was filed.
Visiting Judge Charles J. Bannon of common pleas court said
NOCC could accept those inmates but barred the prison from taking any more until
the dispute is resolved. A hearing on the matter is scheduled Monday morning.
Kountz said the FOP has tried to negotiate an agreement whereby
the sheriff would be able to house the federal prisoners without violating the
contract, but commissioners have yet to ratify terms of the agreement. No
details were given. The wrinkle is that
commissioners have not sent a representative to the bargaining table so they can
negotiate a final contract. The FOP negotiates with Wellington, but Kountz said
commissioners should be there as well since they are the appropriating
authority. Response Commissioner
David Ludt said commissioners don't need to be included in negotiations and
haven't been presented with an agreement to consider. "They
need to just get their proposal together and send it over to us," Ludt
said. "We'll either approve it or reject it." Ludt
said he and Auditor George Tablack have met with the union several times to go
over the issue of contracting out services. "I
was totally blindsided by this lawsuit," Ludt said. "I can't believe
they did this just when we are getting ready to bring some prisoners in."
(Vindicator)
February 3, 2004
At least 90 employees will be on hand next month to reopen the private prison on
the city's East Side. Roseanne Rubosky, a spokeswoman for the North East
Ohio Correctional Center on Hubbard Road, said Monday that the prison plans to
reopen March 10. She added that she has no idea how many inmates are
expected, but a staff of more than 90 employees will be on hand to greet them.
Of those employees, 68 percent are former employees of the prison, which closed
in 2001 when its owner, Corrections Corporation of America, closed the facility
because of financial problems. ''We hired a large number of former
employees,'' Rubosky said. Rubosky said the employees have been undergoing
training since the first of the year, and a class is set to graduate Friday.
The number of employees at the prison will increase as it receives more inmates,
Rubosky said. The road to reopen the prison was paved in November when
Mahoning County commissioners ratified an agreement with CCA that limits the
number of federal inmates in the county jail according to space needs. Those
inmates would have to be sent to the private prison if there is no room at the
county jail. (Tribune-Chronicle)
January 5, 2004
A D.C. prisoner who sued the District claiming that officials ignored
life-threatening conditions in a now-closed prison will be allowed a new chance
to make his case, a federal appeals panel ruled yesterday. The three-judge panel
overturned a federal trial judge's decision to dismiss the lawsuit of Morris J.
Warren, a prisoner who said the city violated his rights by allowing him to be
mistreated and harmed when he was confined at an Ohio prison run by a city
contractor from August 1997 to September 1999. Acting as his own attorney
and writing in longhand, Warren filed his legal claim in 2001 alleging that the
for-profit prison denied him water, food and prescribed medication. He also said
prison staff members drew his blood with used needles and left him naked on his
cell floor for hours at a stretch, leading him to contract pneumonia and
jaundice and suffer a stroke. Warren said that he and others alerted the
District to problems at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown but
that no action was taken. In papers he submitted to the court, he said
that he wrote letters to District Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) and Corrections
Department Director Odie Washington and that news media and court monitors also
warned of mistreatment at the penitentiary run by Corrections Corp. of America.
U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. dismissed Warren's lawsuit in 2002,
saying the prisoner had failed to establish his claim or present facts that the
District knew about the alleged conditions at the Youngstown facility. But
the three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit wrote in
yesterday's opinion that Kennedy was holding the prisoner to a higher standard
than the law allowed. The judges said the lower court must give Warren the
benefit of the doubt that he might be able to prove both that he was mistreated
and that the District was aware of it. "If Warren can prove the
violations, and prove as well that the District had actual or constructive
knowledge of them, he will have established the District's liability,"
Circuit Judge A. Raymond Randolph wrote for the panel. Peter J. Lavallee,
spokesman for the D.C. Office of Corporation Counsel, which had called for the
suit's dismissal, said his office was reviewing the opinion but could not
comment on its substance. The Youngstown facility had been plagued by
problems from the time it opened in 1997 and started accepting prisoners from
the District's Lorton complex. Two inmates were stabbed to death, 40
assaults were reported and six prisoners escaped in 1998. Inmates also won $1.65
million in a class-action lawsuit that accused guards of excessive force.
The facility closed in August 2001. Warren is now incarcerated at the federal
penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pa. Warren was represented in Nov. 13 appellate
arguments by Susan S. Friedman, a third-year student at the Georgetown
University Law Center, and supervising professor Steven H. Goldblatt. The
panel, which also included Judge John G. Roberts and Senior Judge Stephen F.
Williams, wrote that although it was reversing Kennedy, it was leaving many
issues open for the trial court to decide. They included, the judges said,
whether the allegations about the mistreatment and city knowledge were true and
whether Warren's claims might be covered by the previous settlement. (The
Washington Post)
November 22, 2003
Former workers at the private prison on the East Side should be the first to be
rehired when it reopens, several speakers told Mahoning commissioners on Friday.
Commissioners approved an agreement with the Corrections Corporation of America
to house federal inmates at the prison on Hubbard Road, which has been closed
since 2001. CCA will house federal inmates when the U.S. Marshal's Service
cannot send any more inmates to the Mahoning County Jail, county Administrator
Gary Kubic said. (Tribune Chronicles)
November 21, 2003
The private prison on the city's East Side may be on the verge of reopening.
Mahoning County commissioners will hold an emergency meeting today to vote on an
agreement with Corrections Corporation of America to reopen the prison on
Hubbard Road to house federal inmates who are presently housed in the county
jail. Commissioners were set to vote on the agreement Thursday, but they
tabled the issue because of last- minute negotiations. ''I am confident we
will be able to come to a tentative agreement,'' county Administrator Gary Kubic
said. ''I think it will be beneficial to the county and the city of Youngstown.
I think it can be a long-term relationship, and that's clearly what we've been
working on.'' If an agreement is reached, Kubic said CCA would hire 300
people to staff the prison. About 500 people lost their jobs when the prison
closed in July 2001. Kubic said CCA is negotiating the possible reopening
with Mahoning County officials because the county has an agreement with the
federal government to house those inmates. A provision exists that requires any
previous agreement between CCA and the city be honored. If there is an
overflow of federal inmates that cannot be housed at the county jail, they will
be housed in the private prison, Kubic said. Steve Owen, a spokesman for
CCA, said the agreement does not necessarily mean the prison will reopen
immediately. He said that will depend on when the U.S. Marshal's Service will
need the space to house their inmates. ''If the Marshal's service wants to
use it, we'll be in place,'' Owen said. (Tribune Chronicles)
October 16, 2003
U.S. Marshal Peter J. Elliott says there are "no guarantees," but he's
taking a look at housing federal detainees at the mothballed private prison on
the East Side. "Reopening the prison would be a huge tax boost for
the city of Youngstown and create a number of jobs," Elliott said. "I
know it would be great for the economy, and that's one of my
considerations." The U.S. marshal, based in Cleveland, said he'd like
a federal detention center there but is considering other options in an effort
to make the best decision for his marshal district. "I'll say this,
I'm taking a very good hard look at [Youngstown]. I will have a number of
discussions and meetings," Elliott said. "I hope to have a decision
after the first of the year." Federal detainees are now housed in
county jails in the vicinity of federal courthouses where they have matters
pending. Occasionally, judges will remand defendants to custody the day of
sentencing and they stay in county jails until the federal Bureau of Prisons
designates a prison. Former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., for example,
spent a few days at the Summit County jail before being sent to a federal prison
in central Pennsylvania in August 2002. Operated four years Northeast Ohio
Correctional Center, the private prison on Hubbard Road, has a bed capacity of
2,106. It opened in mid-1997 and operated until July 2001, after losing its
contract to incarcerate roughly 1,500 federal inmates, mostly from the
Washington, D.C., area. The prison had an annual payroll of $11 million
for a staff of more than 400 and paid the city $250,000 in income tax its last
year. Elliott said that he has roughly 300 federal inmates housed in eight
county jails. For each inmate, the government pays the jails a daily rate of
about $70. "It's the federal marshal's call. We'll cooperate in any
way we can," said Mahoning County Sheriff Randall A. Wellington. "It
would be good for the economy of the whole area." Wellington said
overpopulation with federal detainees is a problem nationwide. This past week,
the Mahoning County jail had 75 federal inmates. NOCC could open with 300
inmates but would need more federal detainees from other districts — not just
Northeast Ohio — to show a profit and sustain operations, said sheriff's Maj.
Michael Budd. He said the idea has been discussed with and received favorably by
county and NOCC officials. How it would work Budd said the concept of
housing hundreds of federal detainees locally for the U.S. Marshals Service
would work like this: The Mahoning County jail would take the first 100
inmates and serve as the conduit for the overflow who would go to the private
prison on "piggyback contracts" that would include food service from a
local vendor. Mahoning County would get a processing fee from NOCC, say $1 per
day for each inmate. NOCC would collect the going rate, $70 per day, for
each federal detainee. Budd described the proposed arrangement as a
marriage between the public and private sectors. He said the county would want a
long-term contract to ensure that it remains the conduit for federal detainees
placed at NOCC. Steve Owen, spokesman for Community Corrections Corp. of
America, NOCC's parent company in Nashville, Tenn., said the company has been
actively marketing the Youngstown facility to state and federal officials. He
said that there's nothing to report at this time and that he looks forward to
the day he can report a contract has been signed. (The Vindicator)
May 12, 2003
Nothing is imminent, but a settled lawsuit makes reopening the closed private
prison easier, the company says. There are governments interested in a
contract with Corrections Corporation of America to use the local prison, said
Steve Owen, a company spokesman. Five years ago, the school board filed
the lawsuit against CCA and the city over tax breaks granted to the
company. Millions of dollars were at stake. CCA has talked with the
federal government for more than a year about the prison, but there has been no
progress toward a sale, Owen said. Local officials have wondered about acquiring
and operating the prison, too. CCA hasn't even talked with them, Owen
said. (The Vindicator)
May 5, 2003
A new tax deal and "best efforts" at reopening the closed private
prison are the main features in a major legal settlement. City Law
Director John McNally IV said he is confident the prison's owner, Corrections
Corporation of America, eventually will reopen the prison with the lawsuit
resolved. City council approved the settlement at a special meeting
Thursday. The deal, after a year of talks, avoids a trial scheduled for
last summer but delayed while the deal developed. At issue was the
5-year-old suit the school board filed against CCA and the city over tax breaks
granted to the company. Millions of dollars were at stake. The
12-yyear deal gives CCA a 100-percent abatement on property taxes.
Instead, CCA will make payments in lieu of taxes. Previously, the city
gave CCA a deal that said the company would pay only a small part of its
property taxes in the first five years. The bulk of that would go to the
city schools. In the second five years, CCA would continue paying its
school tax bill and a large lump sum directly to the city alone. The
school district would get none of that money. The deal also called for the
schools and city to share in income tax revenue. The school district
protested the deal, and the Ohio Tax Commission never approved it. That
left CCA to pay its full tax bill since opening the prison. Payments
continued despite the prison being emptied of prisoners two years ago when a
federal contract expired. CCA has paid about $5 million in property tax to
date. The deal also says CCA can transfer the property to a new owner that
will open the prison, with the city's permission. The federal government
and some local officials have talked about buying and operating the prison.
(The Vindicator)
May 4, 2003
A tax abatement war waged for nearly five years between the city and the
Youngstown Board of Education is coming to a close. Board president Lock
P. Beachum Sr. said a tentative agreement has been reached between the school
district, the city and Corrections Corporation of America. The suit
revolves around a full, three-year tax abatement the city granted CCA in 1996 as
an incentive to build the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center prison off Hubbard
Road. The exemption was later extended to 10 years. School officials
had estimated that the break would cost them $9 million in lost property taxes.
(The Vindicator)
December 16, 2002
Trumbull and
Mahoning County officials agree that creating a
regional jail would be beneficial to the Valley, but no one is
quite sure how to make it happen. Officials
from both counties met Thursday during the Trumbull County Community Corrections
Board regular meeting and discussed the idea of transforming the empty private
prison in Youngstown into a
multicounty jail. "It's a
great idea, but what do we need to do to get it?" asked Capt. Tim Bowers of
the city police department. The
2,106-bed medium-security prison has been empty since July 2001 when the federal
government transferred the last of its 1,700 inmates from the private facility,
built in the 1990s by Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America.
(The Vindicator)
July 18, 2002
A long and ugly
period in relations between city hall and the board
of education could soon reach an end.
Four
years ago, the school board sued the city and Corrections Corporation of
America
over tax breaks the city granted the private prison company. "The
city and the school board are starting to realize they have more common
interests and want to resolve issues," said Martin Hughes, a Columbus
lawyer
retained by the school board to battle the city and CCA.
From
the board of education's point of view, the tax breaks were a city hall
money-grab at the expense of schoolchildren.
"It
was a sweetheart deal that leaves the city rolling in money; our
money,"
said Carolyn Funk, school district treasurer.
The
dispute dates to 1994, when a new state law required that cities get the
approval of school boards before handing out tax breaks of more than 75
percent.
But
the city wanted to continue giving out 100 percent tax incentives to attract
new businesses to town.
A
year later, the city and CCA agreed to a 10-year tax break package as an
incentive for CCA to build a private prison in Youngstown.
The
city offered CCA something called a "tax increment financing" deal, or
TIF.
The
city says the TIF called for two things:
* CCA
would pay only 25 percent of its property taxes in the first five years,
with the bulk going to the city schools.
* In
the second five years, CCA would continue paying 25 percent of its school
tax bill but also would pay a lump sum equal to the remaining 75 percent of the
taxes directly to the city alone. The school district would get none of that
money.
Without
the tax package, the school board would get about $1.1 million a year in
taxes from CCA. With the package, the district would see about $300,000 a year.
City
officials approved the tax agreement in 1996, and CCA opened the prison in
1997.
The
Ohio Tax Commission, however, has never approved the deal, so CCA has paid
its full $1.37 million tax bill since it opened. Those payments have continued,
despite the prison's being emptied of prisoners almost two years ago.
Nevertheless,
the school board cried foul.
"If
this isn't a case of the city trying to put the skewer up the you-know-what,
I don't know what is," Funk said.
The
school board sued in September 1998, claiming three major violations:
* The
school system was not properly notified.
* The
tax break agreement was retroactive. Hughes said state law requires that
tax abatements can be used only to create or retain jobs. The CCA prison
already
was under construction when the city approved the tax break package, he said.
* The
votes of then-councilman Charles Ellis on the CCA tax deals were an
unlawful interest in a public contract, the lawsuit claims. The 2nd Ward
councilman later got a job at the private prison.
"He
voted to approve the abatement for the sole permissible purpose of creating
jobs and then took one of those jobs," Hughes said.
If
the city loses, CCA wants the city to pay anything the company may owe to the
school district.
The
city could have to pay roughly $3 million that the school board is seeking
in damages and an additional $5 million or more in property taxes already paid
that CCA might get back.
"That
would bankrupt the city of Youngstown," McKelvey said.
If the school district loses the dispute, CCA has asked that the school
district
refund 75 percent of the taxes it has paid over the past four years, Hughes
said. That would amount to about $4 million. (The Vindicator)
February 13, 2002
A Florida official
faces ethics
charges in that
state, in part, on allegations that he improperly
sold a public
document to the city of Youngstown for $7,500.
City
contracts and invoices show the official also
sold Youngstown
a draft of the document -- a private prison
monitoring manual -- for
another $7,500.
That
puts the questionable total at $15,000 paid to
consultant C.
Mark Hodges. He also is executive director of
Florida's Correctional
Privatization Commission.
Hodges
and city Law Director Robert Bush Jr.,
however, disagree
with Florida ethics investigators. Hodges did more
work for the
money spent than just provide the documents, he and
Bush said.
The
document, unedited, would have cost $10.20 -- 15
cents a page in
copying fees.
Besides the manual, the
Florida Commission
on Ethics recently found probable cause that Hodges
violated other
laws the past six years.
A few of the ethics charges stem from Hodges' work
in Youngstown
in 1998.
Bush said the city expected a unique manual for
Youngstown. He
didn't know the manual mostly was copied from
Florida's document,
he said. Hodges never indicated that the manual was
based on a
public record, Bush said. (The Vindicator)
August 5, 2001
More than 500 workers lost their jobs last month when Corrections Corporation of
America mothballed the 2,016-bed Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, the state's
only privately owned and operated prison. Warden Brian Gardner and a
skeleton crew stayed on after the last of the 1,700 inmates housed under
contract with the Washington, D.C., Department of Corrections were bused out of
Youngstown, about 145 miles northeast of Columbus. Raymond Wells, a guard
since the prison opened in 1997, decided not to transfer to one of the company's
64 other prisons. Between 25 and 30 co-workers accepted. Now, at age 54,
Wells is looking for work. "My daughter is a junior in high school;
my wife has a beauty shop business,'' he said. "There's no way I could pull
up roots now.'' Wells considers himself lucky. Not only does his wife have
an income but he has his police pension from nearby Hubbard. But the
company's business plan had no contingency for what seemed unthinkable when the
company opened the Mahoning County prison: a day when it would run out of
inmates. Critics contend the prison and its backers have only themselves
to blame for the problems at the prison that likely played into the government's
decision to cancel the company's contract with the prison system. In less
than four years, two inmates were murdered, six escaped and the company agreed
to pay $1.65 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by the prisoners.
"They just didn't take steps necessary to safeguard the community,'' said
Alan Kretzer, an attorney and critic of the city's involvement with the company.
"The problem was that everyone was convinced the private prison was the
greatest thing since sliced bread,'' he said. Bob Fitzer, president of the
Greater Youngstown Citizens' League, a group dedicated to transforming the
city's reputation for political corruption, thinks the company preys on
distressed communities. "They don't approach Columbus, because
Columbus doesn't need this type of job,'' Fitzer said. "Here, you accept
scraps because it seems like scraps are all you're going to get.'' Ralph
Naples, meanwhile, shakes his head when asked about the empty prison just up the
road from the Golden Dawn. "I don't understand it,'' he said while
breaking a $100 bill for a regular. "It's a brand-spanking new building.''
Then he paused to add: "Isn't it a shame to be fighting for that kind of
business?'' (The Columbus Dispatch)
July 9, 2001
Ohio's only privately owned, privately operated prison, originally scheduled to
close in August, will close several weeks earlier as the final inmates are moved
elsewhere. Within two weeks, the remaining 101 inmates at the 2,016-bed
Northeast Ohio Correctional Center will be moved out and prison operates will be
suspended. (AP)
May 11, 2001
The remaining 350 D.C. inmates at a private prison in Youngstown, Ohio, will be
moved to federal prisons across the country in coming months as the troubled
penitentiary prepares to close in August, officials said yesterday. The
prison, run by Corrections Corp. of America, has been beset with problems since
it opened in 1997, accepting D.C. inmates from the Lorton Correctional Complex
in Fairfax County. Two inmates were stabbed to death; 40 assaults were
reported; six prisoners escaped in a 1998 breakout; and inmates won $1.65
million in a class-action lawsuit that accused guards of excessive force.
Depending on their classification and prison space, the D.C. inmates will be
moved to any of the 98 federal prisons across the country, Bureau of Prisons
spokesperson Traci Billingsley said. (The Washington Post)
May 11, 2001
Once famously plagued by violence and escapes, an Ohio prison owned by America's
largest operator of for-profit lockups now faces a new problem: it may soon have
no prisoners. Corrections Corporations of America's 2,016-bed facility in
Youngstown, Ohio currently houses overflow inmates from Washington, D.C.
But the federal Bureau of Prisons is taking charge of the capital's prison
system and has announced plans to move all the Youngstown inmates to other
facilities by August. (Mother Jones)
April 25, 2001
Mayor George McKelvey refuses to believe that Corrections Corp. of America will
close its private prison Aug. 18, with the loss of 500 jobs and a
quarter-million dollars in annual income taxes. "I don't think they
will close," McKelvey said yesterday. "I'm sure they will find
new clients." "We can't allow this facility to close," he
added. "We just had Tartan Textile close a couple months ago, meaning
the loss of 300 to 500 jobs. Steel companies in the area that employ
Youngstown people have been closing all over. We'll do anything and
everything we can to keep the prison here." (The Plain Dealer)
April 25, 2001
Gov. Bob Taft asked the federal government on Wednesday to buy a Youngtown
private prison that is slated to close in August. Corrections Corporation
of America, which runs the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, announced this
week that it was closing the Youngstown facility Aug. 18, affecting 500 jobs.
The prison, which opened in May 1997, houses inmates from the District of
Columbia. (AP)
April 24, 2001
CCA officials have announced that the company's current contract with the
District of Columbia to house its inmates at Northeast Ohio expires September 8
and will not be renewed due to a new law that mandates the Federal Bureau of
Prisons to assume jurisdiction of all D.C. offenders by the end of this year.
The facility has been securely housing inmates for the District of Columbia
since its opening in 1997. (Nashville, Tenn. -- Business Wire)
April 24, 2001
Corrections Corporation of America said Tuesday it will close its Youngstown,
Ohio, prison on Aug. 18 but wants to reopen it if the company wins a new
contract to house inmates. The shutdown will mean the loss of more than
500 jobs. Warden Brian Gardner said the company would consider housing
women inmates at the prison to reopen it. The Nashville-based prison
operator said the decision was made after the District of Columbia decided not
to renew its contract with CCA. The prison, which at one time housed up to
1,500 inmates from Washington, has faced various problems over past
years--including the 1997 stabbing deaths of two inmates by other prisoners, an
inmate class-action lawsuit alleging excessive use of force by guards and a 1998
jail break. Youngstown Mayor George McKelvey said the closing would be
devastating economically to the city. The prison has an annual payroll of
about $11 million and paid the city $250,000 in income tax last year.
"They are one of the largest employers in the city," McKelvey had
said. (AP)
April 23, 2001
Corrections Corporation of America said yesterday it will close its troubled
Youngstown, Ohio, prison effective Aug. 18 until it can secure a new contract to
house inmates at the facility. The decision was made after the District of
Columbia decided not to renew its contract with CCA, which has been housing
prisoners from the nation's capital in the Ohio facility. The
Nashville-based prison operator cited a new law that requires the Federal Bureau
of Prisons to take jurisdiction of all D.C. inmates by the end of the year as
the reason the contract won't be extended when it expires on Sept. 8.
Problems at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, including the 1997 stabbing
deaths of two inmates by other prisoners, an inmate class-action lawsuit
alleging excessive use of force by guards and a 1998 jail break, created a
public relations nightmare for CCA specifically and the private corrections
industry generally. CCA now houses 350 D.C. inmates at the 2,016-bed Ohio
prison, company spokesperson Steve Owen said, down from 1,500 at one time.
James Macdonald, an analyst at First Analysis in Chicago, said a permanent
closure of the Ohio prison is more likely. He said currently there is a
weak demand for new beds among states. The Youngstown prisoners will moved
to other private non-CCA facilities. CCA recently notified about 330
employees at the Youngstown prison that they would be laid off a later date.
This week, the remaining 184 workers will receive similar notices, the company
said. (AP)
April 23, 2001
A private prison that houses out-of-state prisoners could close as soon as
August if it doesn't get more inmates, city officials said Monday.
Corrections Corporation of America announced last month that it was cutting 200
jobs--or about 45 percent--at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, citing a
declining inmate population. The 2,106-bed prison had only 350 inmates
left as of last week and at one time housed up to 1,500 inmates from Washington,
D.C. Nashville-based CCA told the city in a letter Friday that the prison
could close Aug. 18, said city law director Robert Bush. "The city
will do everything it can to save that facility," Youngtown Mayor George
McKelvey told The Vindicator on Monday. Even if the prison has to close,
the company will work on getting another contract and reopen the facility, NOCC
warden Brian Gardener said. CCA also may try to bring in female prisoners.
McKelvey said the prison closing would be devastating economically to the city.
The prison has an annual payroll of about $11 million and paid the city $250,000
in income tax last year. (Ohio News and AP)
March 29, 2001
CCA has notified about 200 employees at its Northeast Ohio Correctional Center
in Youngstown that they would be laid off. The 45% reduction in the
prison's 499-employee work force aims to adjust to reflect the number of inmates
there, CCA spokeswoman Louise Green said yesterday. The prison now houses
574 inmates. At one time, it had housed up to 1,500 inmates. The
families of 500 workers in Youngstown depend on the private prison. They roughly
15-million dollars in wage tax into the city treasury. But the prison's parent
company, Correction Corp. of America, is trying to reduce a 1.1 billion dollar
debt ;pad. Monday it sold one of its North Carolina Facility. Even old critics
like senator Bob Hagen are concerned about that, "I understand that we have
to be responsible about protecting the jobs there, and protecting the facility.
But they've lied to us so many times, we can't believe what they're
saying." What CCA's executives are saying is that it's getting very costly
to run their prison in Youngstown. (Tennessean)
March 28, 2001
Robert Bush Jr. knew the private prison would be cutting a significant number of
jobs. But planned layoffs of about 200 workers, nearly 45 percent of the staff,
startled even the city law director. The Nashville, Tenn.--based company wants
to reduce the work force because there are only 574 inmates in the 2,106-bed
prison. The prison housed up to 1,500 inmates from Washington, D.C., at one
time. A federally approved contract between CCA and the city said the prison
must be fully staffed regardless of the number of inmates. As of December the
prison had an $11 million annual payroll and paid the city $250,000 a year in
income tax. Reduced staffing will cut the city's income tax collections by more
than $112,000 a year. (OCSEA)
December 8, 2000
CCA lost $253.7 million in its third quarter, which ended Sept. 30. An annual
report released report released earlier this year said the company lost $62
million on revenues of $285 million in 1999. Mayor George McKelvey said the
company told him this week that it is losing millions of dollars a year in
Youngstown because the prison is housing less than 1,000 prisoners, well below
its capacity of 2,000. "It's a bombshell," McKelvey told the
newspaper. "We're in a crisis situation." (The Associated Press State
and Local Wire, Dec. 8, 2000)
Probably the most notorious
for-profit private prison in the US. CCA settled a $ 1.65 million
class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of inmates. CCA brought in District
of Columbia inmates without the knowledge of local authorities. They only
found out after six escaped.
March 15, 1999
About 1,900 inmates in Ohio's only private prison would split $1.65 million
under a settlement of their lawsuit that claimed guards used excessive force and
that the facility improperly housed maximum-security prisoners. Three inmates
sued CCA in August 1997, claiming the 3-month-old Northeast Ohio Correctional
Center, which was built to handle unsafe and that medical treatment was
inadequate. After the lawsuit became a class action, two inmates were killed by
fellow prisoners. A Justice Department report said staff members had used "
unnecessarily harsh and humiliating procedures" during inmate searches
after the killings. Last summer the prison made several security and personnel
changes after six inmates escaped. Their breakout prompted a series of
legislative hearings and a proposal to ban maximum-security inmates at private
prisons in Ohio.
June 27, 1998
Six inmates, including four murderers, cut through a gate and escaped from
Ohio's only privately run prison Saturday afternoon. The prison, operated by
Correction Corp. of America, has been plagued with problems since it opened in
May 1997. Two inmates have been killed, and there have been at least 13
stabbings.
North
Coast Correctional Facility
Grafton, Ohio
Management & Training Corporation (formerly run by
CiviGenics, First Correctional Medical)
September 1, 2011 All Headline News
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections announced Thursday the
winning bidders in the $200 million privatization of prisons in Ashtabula and
Marion counties. Two out of three bidders won the contracts: Corrections Corp.
of America (CCA) of Nashville, TN, and Management and Training Corp. (MTC) of
Centerville, UT. The Geo Group Inc. of Boca Raton, FL, was the losing bidder.
The state of Ohio pushed through with the announcement after a Columbus judge
denied a restraining order by opposition groups to halt the process. Five adult
prisons out of the state's 32 corrections facilities were up for grabs. CCA will
take over the operations of Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Ashtabula
County, while MTC will manage Marion County's North Central Correctional
Institution and the vacant Marion Juvenile Correctional Facility. The MTC-operated
North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility in Lorain County will be turned over
to Ohio and merged with the state-operated Grafton Correctional Institution.
September 10, 2009 Chronicle-Telegram
EMH Regional Medical Center is locked in a dispute with the private
contractor that runs the North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility in Grafton
over unpaid medical bills for inmates treated at the hospital. A lawsuit filed
earlier this year accuses Utah-based Management and Training Corp. of failing to
pay $628,193.81 in medical bills it racked up for inmates between September 2006
and February 2009. But Tim Reid, the company’s attorney, said Management and
Training doesn’t actually owe the hospital the money. Instead, he said, a former
subcontractor is responsible for the outstanding bills. Management and Training
has been paying its bills since severing ties with Arizona-based First
Correctional Medical in May 2008, Reid said. That company, he said, ran into
financial problems and fell behind in paying the medical bills under a contract
with the hospital. But Management and Training didn’t realize how much money was
owed until after the lawsuit was filed in May of this year, Reid said. “We
realized there was a problem, but we didn’t know the extent of the problem,” he
said. First Correctional and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and
Correction are not named as a party in the lawsuit, according to court records.
Julie Walburn, an ODRC spokeswoman, said the prison system paid Management and
Training about $15.4 million in fiscal year 2009 to operate the North Coast
prison, which mostly houses prisoners convicted of drunken driving and other
substance abuse crimes. “They’re responsible for providing medical care to
inmates,” she said.
September 11, 2003
Dr. Shura Hegde didn't have to look far for
work after he lost his $96-an-hour job at the Lorain Correctional Institution
for "questionable clinical, behavioral and billing practices."
The psychiatrist simply, and literally, crossed the road and landed a job at the
North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility in Grafton, a state prison operated
by a private contractor. State prison authorities were unaware Hegde was
hired at North Coast, a 552-bed minimum-security prison for drug and alcohol
offenders, after officials at Lorain refused to renew his contract. He is
one of at least four medical professionals ousted from one prison for
substandard performance only to later gain a job at another. An
investigation by The Dispatch and WBNS-10TV of problematic prison health care
for inmates led Gov. Bob Taft to seek a comprehensive study of prison medicine,
including improved screening of medical professionals. Amid numerous
complaints in 2001, a deputy warden at Lorain found Hegde performed "full
mental-health evaluations" in 10 minutes and gave the same assessment
scores to 30 of 31 inmates, "some of whom were psychotic." Hegde
also was accused of inappropriate behavior -- including playing pingpong on duty
-- and of billing the state for half-hour lunches during his four years of work
at the prison. The lunches resulting in an overpayment of $36,864. He
began working at North Coast, then operated by CiviGenics Corp. of Marlborough,
Mass., on July 1, 2001, the day after his personal-services contract expired at
Lorain. The prisons are in a cluster with Grafton Correctional Institution
about 100 miles north of Columbus. Officials with the Ohio Department of
Rehabilitation and Correction's Bureau of Mental Health Services were unaware
that Hegde, a resident of of Avon Lake, was working at North Coast, said
department spokeswoman Andrea Dean. Jacqueline Thomas, warden of North
Coast, told state officials that Hegde "has not been a problem there at all
and is conducting himself appropriately," Dean said. "The warden
has been apprised of our concern about (Hegde's) performance at Lorain and will
monitor him," she said. The state has the right to review and veto the
personnel decisions of prison contractors. The North Coast prison is
operated by Management Training Corp. of Ogden, Utah, under a $13.3 million
annual contract. Thomas did not return repeated telephone calls, and Hegde
could not be reached for comment. Ralph Tate, health service administrator at
North Coast, declined to comment. In a May 16, 2001, letter to Lorain
prison officials, Hegde denied their allegations. The 45-year-old native of
India said his contract was not renewed because of "prejudice and
malice." (Columbus Dispatch)
July 31, 2002
Public employees and
state-managed prisons are being forced to rescue a
problem-plagued private prison, according to the state's prison employee
union. Leaders from the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association said that
today's transfer of 12 inmates involved in a disturbance at the
privately-operated North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility to the Marion
Correctional Institution was an unnecessary burden on the state prison
system and a waste of public funds. MCI is managed and staffed by state
workers.
"Why
can't the private prisons take care of their own problems," said
Darrell Starcher, president of OCSEA¹s chapter at MCI. "If the private
prisons really thought they were our equal, they wouldn¹t need us to take
care of their trouble makers."
According
to union sources, the transfers were linked to an incident
yesterday (July 29) at NCCTF in which at least a dozen inmates refused to
put on prison clothing.
NCCTF
is managed by the Management and Training Corporation, "So-called
prison professionals should be ashamed that they couldn't handle
a problem of this magnitude," said Starcher. "This would be laughable
if it
weren't for the fact that MCI and the other state prisons are already under
stress from closures and staff reductions. We shouldn¹t be cleaning up
problems that for-profit companies created." (Ohio Civil Service
Employees Association News Release)
July
30, 2002
Thirty-six inmates have
been moved in the past week from their prisons to other institutions because of
disciplinary problems. Twelve inmates were moved Tuesday from the
privately run North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility in Grafton to the
Marion Correctional Institution for refusing to wear proper uniforms, department
spokeswoman Andrea Dean said. On Saturday,
24 inmates at the Southeastern Correctional Institution in Lancaster who would
not return to their living areas were moved to other prisons, Dean said.
The Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, which represents some prison
workers, including guards, said removal of 12 inmates from the privately run
prison, which has nonunion guards, demonstrates that the state puts its problem
inmates in union prisons. "We shouldn't be cleaning up problems that
for-profit companies created," said Darrell Starcher, the president of the
union's local at the Marion prison. Dean said that none of the disciplined
Lancaster inmates were moved to private prisons. "We're not targeting
inmates in a private facility," Dean said. (The Associated Press
State and Local News Wire)
July 7, 2002
The company that operates the North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility and
the state' only other privately run prison has agreed to take a $400,000 cut in
its contracts with state. The future of the privately operated prison here
appears more secure after the state negotiated its contract to lower costs by
$400,000. Management and Training Corp. of Utah, the company that runs
North Coast Correctional Treatment Center in Grafton and another prison in
Conneaut, agreed to the cut in contracts. But if the economy tumbles and
further cuts are ordered, the local privately run prison, as well as the one in
Conneaut, could be targeted for closure, he said. (The Chronicle-Telegram)
July 5, 2002
Housing units at four prisons will be closed and 56 jobs eliminated as part of
the state prison system's response to a new round of budget cuts. The
state also will renegotiate contracts with the company running Ohio's two
private prisons to seek reduced payments. Wilkinson said Ogden, Utah-based
Management and Training Corp. has agreed to reopen its contracts for the two
private prisons it runs. The company has a $21 million contract this year
to run the 1,300-bed Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Conneaut and a $13.3
million contract to run the 550-bed North Coast Correctional Treatment
Facility in Grafton. The state wants to save $400,000 by renegotiating its
contracts, department spokeswoman Andrea Dean said. (The Associated Press
State and Local Wire)
May 24, 2002
The private prison
in Grafton likely will be the second
correctional facility this year to close as a result of budget cuts.
Although
department officials won't discuss their plans, some lawmakers said
they expect to see the North Coast Correctional Institution on the chopping
block.
NCCI
opened in February 2000 as the state's first private prison. Lawmakers
attempted to save money by letting private companies, rather than the
government, operate the facilities. But private prisons generally have not
met expectations.
"If
they close one, I hope that's it," said Sen. Jim Carnes, R-St.
Clairsville, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. "I'm not convinced
that private prisons have been a great service to the people."
Management
and Training Corp., based in Centerville, Utah, took over
change management companies. It also runs Ohio's other private prison, in
Conneaut. (The News Journal)
January 13, 2001
Roy Ross, CEO of the Marlborough, Mass., company, said in a statement that
tenacious opposition by the Ohio Civil service Employees Association contributed
to the state's decision to pull the plug on Civigenics' $14.9 million contract
to run the North Coast Correctional Treatment facility in Grafton. Ross said his
company had a difficult time fighting qualified staff members, in part because
the union successfully challenged Civigenics' efforts to have its private
employees trained by state workers. On Wednesday, Reginald A. Wilkinson,
director of the Ohio Department Rehabilitation and Correction, informed
Civigenics that its contract to operate the 552-bed facility would not be
renewed when it expires June 30. State officials cited mounting problems at the
Grafton prison, including staff shortages, in dropping operator. (Today's Days
Dispatch)
December 1, 2000
The state is withholding part of its monthly payment to a private company
running a state prison because of concerns about the company's staffing levels.
The state said that CiviGenics didn't meet minimum staffing levels for its
alcohol and drug treatment programs between April and November as called for in
the state's 21 month contract. In effect, the state said in a memo to warden
Robert Clark last month, CiviGenics billed the state "for staff that were
not employed." (Ohio News 7-Day Archive, Dec. 1, 2000)
December 1, 2000
The operator of a privately run prison billed the state almost $75,000 for
employees who did not exist, according to state prison officials. CiviGenics
billed the state for 956 days that counselors did not work, 147 days that
supervisors did not work and 27 days the director did not work. Joe Andrews, a
spokesman for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said the state
could sanction CiviGenics if the company continued to under staff programs. (The
Pain Dealer, Dec.1, 2000)
November 27, 2000
Residents and lawmakers are upset that a privately run state prison built to
house and treat inmates convicted on drug and alcohol charges is now housing
violent offenders. According to prison records, most of the 562 inmates
are serving time for drug or alcohol offenses, often in combination with another
felony such as burglary or aggravated vehicular assault. But 49 inmates
convicted of crimes described as violent under state law were serving time at
North Coast as of September. (The Plain Dealer, Nov. 27, 2000)
October 2000
The CiviGenics state prison meant to house drunk driving offenders is holding a
large number of violent inmates according to the Ohio Civil Service Employees
Association. More than sixteen percent of the inmates have been convicted of
sexual battery, assault, arson, manslaughter, robbery, etc. (Cincinnati Enquirer
via Corrections Professional, Oct.6, 2000)
May 4, 2000
A riot between guards and inmates at the brand new facility resulted in five
inmates being transferred out. (The Chronicle-Telegram, June 30, 2000)
Ohio
Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections
September 1, 2011 All Headline News
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections announced Thursday the
winning bidders in the $200 million privatization of prisons in Ashtabula and
Marion counties. Two out of three bidders won the contracts: Corrections Corp.
of America (CCA) of Nashville, TN, and Management and Training Corp. (MTC) of
Centerville, UT. The Geo Group Inc. of Boca Raton, FL, was the losing bidder.
The state of Ohio pushed through with the announcement after a Columbus judge
denied a restraining order by opposition groups to halt the process. Five adult
prisons out of the state's 32 corrections facilities were up for grabs. CCA will
take over the operations of Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Ashtabula
County, while MTC will manage Marion County's North Central Correctional
Institution and the vacant Marion Juvenile Correctional Facility. The MTC-operated
North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility in Lorain County will be turned over
to Ohio and merged with the state-operated Grafton Correctional Institution.
April 24, 2011 Toledo Blade
Gov. John Kasich promotes privatization as a way for state government to save
money and deliver public services more efficiently. But a credible new study
suggests the Kasich administration has yet to make a compelling case for selling
five state prisons to private contractors. The liberal advocacy group Policy
Matters Ohio examined purported savings over the past decade from private
operation of two state prisons. It concludes that the state’s methods for
calculating seemingly robust savings from the experiment were “riddled with
errors, oversights, and omissions of significant data” and were “potentially
tainted by controversial accounting assumptions.” Once those errors were
corrected, the study says, the actual savings were far less. The Ohio Department
of Rehabilitation and Correction concedes that previous computations of cost
savings were inconsistent and imprecise. A department spokesman says the Kasich
administration is using a more accurate method based on actual operating costs
of established prisons. The state posted bids for the purchase and sale of the
five prisons before the new accounting method came on line. The administration
insists updated calculations still show Ohio’s two current private prisons are
meeting their legal mandate to produce savings of at least 5 percent over what
it would cost the state to run them. Even so, the new study raises doubts about
the cost-saving claims associated with prison privatization. Before the state
sells more prisons to private entrepreneurs, the administration must show a
compelling fiscal rationale and, just as important, resolve concerns about
private prisons’ effectiveness and safety.
April 18, 2011 Dayton Daily News
Ten years after Ohio first turned to private contractors to run two state
prisons, the state has yet to devise an accurate, reliable way to calculate how
much money, if any, has been actually saved, according to a new study released
Monday. Policy Matters Ohio, a left-leaning think tank based in Cleveland,
issued the 22-page report just as the Kasich administration moves to sell off
five state prisons and hire the new owners to operate them. Previous
calculations have been “riddled with errors, oversights and omissions of
significant data” and “potentially tainted by controversial accounting
assumptions,” the report said. State law requires that a private vendor’s price
beat state costs by at least 5 percent — a figure that Department of
Rehabilitation and Correction says has been consistently met over the last 10
years. Ohio prison officials say that the private vendor has saved taxpayers
more than $45 million over what it would have cost had the state run Lake Erie
Correctional Institution in Conneaut and North Coast Correctional Treatment
Facility in Grafton. State officials project that selling those two prisons as
well as two others and a shuttered juvenile facility would bring in $200 million
in cash and produce annual operational savings of $6.6 million. Policy Matters,
however, questions whether privatizing the two prisons actually produced
savings. In calculating the private vendor’s daily costs, DRC left out expenses
picked up by the state such as inmate pay and some hospitalization costs, the
report says. And when calculating how much it would cost DRC to run Lake Erie
and North Coast, DRC used bloated staffing and indirect cost figures, according
to the report. “At the very least, that should give taxpayers pause. It may
eventually turn out that private prisons do save money. But after 10 years of
claiming it, Ohio has fallen well short of proving it,” the report says. DRC
spokesman Carlo LoParo said some changes are being made to the formulas used but
he criticized the report overall as “incomplete and aimed at accomplishing their
ideological objectives. Based on the data available to Policy Matters, the
researcher could only have arrived at these figures by making broad assumptions
that benefit his client’s point of view. The report is based on a kernel of
truth, but the facts are bended to mislead.”
March 18, 2011 Chronicle-Telegram
State Rep. Matt Lundy is questioning whether it is a conflict of interest
for state prisons director Gary C. Mohr to be involved in the matter of selling
five Ohio prisons to private companies because Mohr used to work for Corrections
Corporation of America, one of the private prison operators who could bid on
purchasing Grafton Correction Institution and North Coast Correctional
Institution in Grafton. Lundy, D-Elyria, sent a letter to the Ohio Ethics
Commission on Thursday asking the group to make recommendations on what level of
involvement is proper for Mohr. “It is important that this perception of a
conflict of interest be addressed by putting ground rules in place,” Lundy
wrote. “This perception of a conflict of interest must be taken seriously and
addressed immediately.” Carlo LoParo, communications chief for the prison
system, accused Lundy of “playing politics.”
March 14, 2011 Chronicle-Telegram
The Grafton Correctional Institution and the North Coast Correctional Treatment
Facility will be sold as a package to a private prison operator, state Rep. Matt
Lundy, D-Elyria, said this morning. Lundy learned of the decision when he got a
phone call at 9 a.m. from Gary C. Mohr, director of the Ohio Department of
Rehabilitation and Correction, Lundy said. Grafton Correctional is one of two
state-operated prisons in Grafton. North Coast is privately operated. The staff
at the two prisons totals roughly 540 workers, according to their websites.
Together they hold more than 2,200 inmates. The state will choose a private
operator by the end of July, Lundy said, and it will begin running the prisons
at the start of 2012. The operator will conduct interviews for prospective
employees between Sept. 1 and the end of the year. Private operators typically
pay $13.25 per hour, less than state pay of $15 per hour, he said.
January 24, 2011 AP
Gov. Paul LePage announced Monday that a Maine transportation official with a
reputation for getting the most mileage out of scarce dollars is his choice to
head that department, and a career administrator who has run public and private
prisons in several other states will be his nominee to head Maine's corrections
system. David Bernhardt, of Vassalboro, an engineer with 26 years experience in
the department that oversees and maintains Maine's highway, bridge, ferry and
other public transportation systems, will be his nominee for commissioner.
LePage said he wanted to hire a commissioner "who can take a nickel and stretch
it into a dollar. The name that kept coming up is David Bernhardt." Bernhardt
has consolidated transportation maintenance facilities and formed a partnership
with New Hampshire to save on purchases such as road culverts, resulting in $10
million in annual savings for Maine, LePage said. The emphasis on savings comes
as the transportation budget falls hundreds of millions of dollars short of
what's needed to keep up with proposed capital improvements for highways and
bridges. Asked whether an increase in Maine's 29.5 cent-per-gallon gas tax plays
into a solution to raising more revenue for the department, LePage said, "It
doesn't." That policy was seconded by Bernhardt, who said his "first job is to
look for efficiencies and cost-effective solutions without having to raise the
gas tax." LePage's nominee for Corrections commissioner, Joseph Ponte, has held
administrative positions in corrections systems in Idaho, Massachusetts, New
Jersey, Rhode Island and Tennessee. Ponte's resume shows he's also worked for
private firms that run prisons, including Corrections Corporation of America,
his employer since 2006. Ponte said he's helped to turn around troubled prisons,
including a maximum-security state prison in Walpole, Mass., which he said had
been one of the most violent on the East Coast, and a county jail in Memphis,
Tenn., that experienced staff problems. He is currently running a detention
center in Nevada for CCA. LePage said Ponte's association with CCA should
"absolutely" not be taken as a gesture favoring privatization of Maine's prison
system. However, LePage said he would be open to allowing a private-sector
prison come to Maine, build a prison, pay taxes and house other state's
prisoners. "I may consider that," he said.
January 4, 2011 Columbus Dispatch
Gov.-elect John Kasich, who has said he wants to explore privatizing state
prison operations, has chosen a former longtime state prisons official who later
worked at a company that operates private prisons to run the Ohio Department of
Rehabilitation and Correction. Kasich introduced Gary C. Mohr during a press
conference this afternoon at the Ross County Courthouse in Chillicothe, Mohr's
hometown. He is the 11th cabinet nomination so far before Kasich takes office on
Monday. Kasich and Mohr pledged that all state decisions involving privatization
would publicly bid and transparent and that Mohr would abstain from any decision
involving his former employer, Corrections Corporation of America, a private
operator. Mohr, 57, worked for three decades in the state prison system, serving
as deputy agency director under former Republican Govs. George V. Voinovich and
Bob Taft. Mohr also held a variety of other positions, including as a warden in
Chillicothe and two other facilities and both deputy director and superintendent
of the Department of Youth Services. From 2007-09, Mohr was a managing director
for Nashville-based CCA which owns and operates a private prison in Youngstown
that houses federal inmates. The company runs 60 prison facilities housing
75,000 inmates in 18 states and the District of Columbia. Mohr currently is
chief executive of the consulting company, Mohr Correctional Insight, which has
mostly worked with CCA, including instituting a new management system for prison
staffing. He has been in that position since 2009 after earlier serving from
2005-07.
January 22, 2003
A variety of factors
will determine which of Ohio's prisons will close to help trim a state budget
shortfall, officials said Tuesday. Andrea
Dean, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman, confirmed
the Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Conneaut is "on the table"
and not exempt from consideration. The privately managed prison is one of 33
prisons under review. Several factors will determine which prison - or prisons -
are closed, Dean said. Location, age, security issues and maintenance costs are
among the variables, she said. If so, that bodes well for LaECI, which opened
its doors in April 2000, said State Rep. George Distel, D-Conneaut. In
the meantime, Distel said he was preparing a report for prison leaders,
detailing the financial investment made by the City of Conneaut regarding the
prison. His report will touch on money spent years ago to buy land and to extend
water and sewer lines for the prison project. As a result of the financial
incentives, the city has incurred some debt on behalf of the prison, Distel
said.
(Star Beacon)
November 10, 2001
A much-criticized contract to feed convicts in a southeastern Ohio prison is
merely one example of a much-larger problem with the state's efforts to
privatize government operations, a union spokesman said yesterday. Peter
Wray of the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association made his comments shortly
after Auditor Jim Petro released a report that severely lambasted the 1998
contract. "This is just the tip of the iceberg,'' Wray said.
"This is a textbook case of why privatization doesn't work. The hidden
costs of privatization happen in case after case.'' Petro's audit involved
a contract between the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and
Aramark Correctional Services to provide meals for prisoners at Noble
Correctional Institution in Caldwell. Previously, full-time state
employees bought the food for Noble's 1,730 inmates and oversaw its preparation
and distribution. But in November 1998, the state awarded a two-year contract to
Aramark, a private company based in Oakbrook, Ill., to take over the operation
for $3.52 million. Prisoners soon complained about the quality and
quantity of the food and the contract was verbally amended during a closed-door
meeting between the company and state officials. The amended contract
allowed the company to charge taxpayers $2.1 million -- 60 percent -- more, the
audit found. After months of negative publicity, the correction department
last year chose not to renew the contract with Aramark. Instead, the department
awarded a two-year contract to Local 11 of the civil service employees union,
which allows state employees to again take over food-service operations at
Noble. At a news conference yesterday, Petro said amending the Aramark
contract did not violate the law. However, the change "allowed for the
waste of public dollars,'' he added. Ideally, contracts should be written
so they don't have to be amended, Petro said. And if an amendment is
necessary, it should be done in writing, not verbally and in private, he said.
Privatizing some government operations can save taxpayers money, Petro added.
However, such privatizing must be closely monitored by state officials to
prevent hidden expenses and cost overruns, he said. Wray contended that
the Aramark contract is relatively small, compared with other privatization
efforts by the corrections department and other agencies. Entire
operations -- not just food services -- are privatized at Lake Erie Correctional
Institution in Conneaut and the North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility in
Grafton, Wray noted. Those two prisons, which hold 1,360 and 530 inmates,
respectively, opened last year with private companies providing all employees.
Wray said his union has heard repeated complaints about lax supervision, high
turnover and mistreatment of inmates at both prisons. But Thomas Stickrath,
the correction department's assistant director, said operations there are being
handled efficiently. The correction department has assigned a full-time
monitor at each of the prisons to keep close tabs on privatized operations,
Stickrath said. He acknowledged that Aramark "was not a perfect
vendor.'' But when Local 11 bid on a new contract, the union came up with ways
the state employees could cut food-service costs, Stickrath said. "We
sat down with the union and negotiated a better deal,'' he said. Petro's
audit yesterday also criticized a program that allows prisoners to take college
courses. Many inmates who enrolled in the courses never actually attended
classes, wasting $3 million, the audit found. Stickrath conceded that his
agency's monitoring of the inmate education program was "sloppy.''
New procedures have been implemented to ensure taxpayers are not charged for
courses that inmates do not attend, he said. (The Columbus Disatch)
November 9, 2001
The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction also paid a private food-service
company $2.08 million more for meals served to inmates than the state's contract
with the company required, according to the audit. The report by state
Auditor Jim Petro has two parts. The first is an investigation of a contract
between the state and Aramark, which is based in Oakbrook, Ill., to provide
meals to inmates at Noble Correctional Institution in Caldwell. Petro
began investigating the Aramark contract in December 1999 after getting an
anonymous tip that the company was billing the state for meals it hadn't served,
according to the report. A state employees' union took over food service
at Noble after Aramark's contract expired. (AP)
May 22, 2001
Two private companies managing state-owned prisons are violating state law and
have created unnecessary dangers because of high turnover rates among their
security staff, according to one of Ohio's state employee unions. The
group says that, according to information obtained yesterday from the Ohio
Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, the Management and Training Corp.
and the CiviGenics Corp., which manage state prisons in Conneaut and Grafton,
respectively, are ignoring laws that require the companies to keep annual
turnover rates below 20 percent. CiviGenics' turnover at the North Coast
Correctional Treatment Facility was 52 percent for 2000, and plus an additional
13 percent turnover in the first quarter of 2001. MTC's Lake Erie
Correctional Institution was in operation for only nine months in 2000, yet they
had a 25 percent turnover among their security staff. The Criminal Justice
Institute's 1999 Corrections Yearbook showed that the average reported turnover
rate was nearly 41 percent. (Ohio Civil Service Employees Association News
Release)
March 22, 2001
The Internal Revenue Service, at odds with Ohio over the state's use of private
contractors to fill prison jobs, is auditing hundreds of contracts from 1998 and
1999. The largest of the 438 contracts were held by psychiatrists, doctors and
other medical professional, including more than 60 six-figure agreements.
The IRS has strict rules for when a worker is classified as an independent
contractor, which involves a different method of tax payment. In the state's
case, the IRS is claiming that the prison contractors should have been state
employees and taxed as such, said Tina Krueger, a lawyer with the prison system.
The state argues that it's up to private contractors to pay their own federal
taxes. The contractors pay taxes now under different IRS rules for independent
contractors. (AP, March 22, 2001)
Ohio Legislature
Security records mixed for private prison firms:
August 6, 2011 By Tom Beyerlein and Laura A. Bischoff, Daytona Daily News
New
lobbyists in Ohio have strong Republican ties: July 04, 2011 By Mark Naymik, The Plain Dealer
August 11, 2011 Portsmouth Daily Times
Two Democratic state representatives are raising concerns over the
privatization of five state prisons. The legislators, Matt Lundy (D-Elyria) and
W. Carlton Weddington (D-Columbus), sent a public records request to the
Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (DRC) and the governor’s office
asking that the bids to privatize five Ohio prisons be made public. “I continue
to raise concerns over the secretive process in which Ohio’s prisons are being
privatized. Previous questions over safety, cost and accountability have gone
unanswered and ignored. Unfortunately, it has become clear this is just another
example of Gov. (John) Kasich rewarding his friends,” Lundy said. “Today, we
call for the governor to release the bids that CCA (Corrections Corporation of
America), GEO Group and MTC (Management and Training Corp) have submitted. The
public deserves to know what price tag has been put on their safety.” The three
companies mentioned by Lundy have submitted bids to purchase Ohio prisons, and,
according to legislative aides for the offices of Lundy and Weddington, Kasich
received contributions for his transition fund of $10,000 each from two of the
companies seeking to purchase the prisons. They also said all three companies
hired close Kasich ties to lobby for their firms’ interest, including Kasich’s
former congressional chief of staff and two political advisors to his
gubernatorial campaign. In July, Carlo LoParo of the DRC said North Central
Correctional Institution in Marion and Grafton Correctional Institution in
Lorain County were the only two public facilities affected by privatization.
LoParo said Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Ashtabula is already a
privately operated, state-owned facility, as is North Coast Correctional
Treatment Facility in Lorain. Marion Juvenile Correctional Facility, also in
Marion, is a vacant facility the DRC is including in the sale. “I reiterate
concerns today over the privatization of five state prisons. The CIIC’s
(Correctional Institution Inspection Committee) recent report showing massive
overcrowding coupled with the announcement of 950 jobs being lost should raise
red flags for the public and the Kasich administration,” Weddingon said. “Our
safety and the safety of inmates are at risk. It is simply inexcusable that Gov.
Kasich continue to keep the legislature and the public in the dark while our
safety and security are at risk.” Kasich Spokesman Rob Nichols shot back: “It is
baffling that as a former investigative reporter and current lawmaker, Mr. Lundy
could be so catastrophically unfamiliar with Ohio Law.” Nichols was citing ORC
125.07: “In order to ensure fair and impartial evaluation, proposals and related
documents submitted in response to a request for proposals are not available for
public inspection and copying under section 149.43 of the Revised Code until
after the award of the contract.”
June 27, 2011 Crain's Cleveland Business
It's easy to miss all the tax breaks lurking in a 5,000-page document, such as
Ohio's next two-year budget. So it won't be surprising if, in the end, several
less-publicized proposals consistent with Gov. John Kasich's desire to make the
state more business friendly by lowering taxes survive the negotiating process
and make it into the budget's final form. For example, Gov. Kasich disclosed
June 16 in a speech to members of the Ohio Society of CPAs that he would be
taking to a House-Senate conference committee — thus bypassing public scrutiny
before standing committees in the Legislature — a tax break he called “Invest
Ohio.” Under this proposal, any Ohioan who invests in any Ohio business large or
small and holds that investment for two years will pay no state income tax on
any gain from that investment. Also escaping public attention are a number of
proposed tax breaks in the budget bill involving the state's commercial activity
tax, or CAT, which taxes a business' gross receipts in Ohio at a rate of 0.26%
once they exceed $1 million. (Companies with gross receipts under $1 million pay
a flat $150.) A job retention tax credit — similar to one used to keep the
headquarters of American Greetings Corp., Bob Evans Farms Inc. and Diebold Inc.
in Ohio — would give large companies that commit to keeping employees in an
existing location a CAT or income tax credit of as much as 75% of payroll for 15
years. In a similar vein, the House's version of the budget exempts operators of
private prisons from the CAT, while the Senate bill exempts those transactions
involving the sale and exchange of enriched uranium. The latter exemption would
be aimed at helping promote job creation at a proposed uranium enrichment plant
in Piketon in southern Ohio.
May 19, 2011 Journal-Register
Gov. John Kasich said his policies to spark job growth and promote business are
working. Kasich spoke about the state budget and Senate Bill 5 to more than 200
people gathered yesterday at Kalt Manufacturing, 36700 Sugar Ridge Road, North
Ridgeville. “I don’t practice politics as usual,” Kasich said. In the last 10
years, Ohio lost more jobs than every state but Michigan and California, Kasich
said. Young people and families are leaving the state, which stands to lose two
congressional seats based on the 2010 Census, he said. However, Ohio’s changing
policies will keep some businesses that had considered leaving the state, Kasich
said. He cited the examples of American Greetings, Diebold, Bob Evans
restaurants and Goodyear. With a backdrop of a 20-ton lift and the new
16,000-square-foot expansion at Kalt Manufacturing, Kasich emphasized the jobs
at that factory and other manufacturers are good jobs. Ohio’s state government
agencies needs to handle their budgets like Ohio’s families do, Kasich said. “If
you’ve got less money you’ve got to figure out what your priorities are,” Kasich
said. Young people should consider vocational education and Ohio needs to do a
better job connecting workers and employers, Kasich said. He touted
ohiomeansjobs.com, a state website that aims to match employers and job seekers.
The crowd chuckled when Kasich asserted he is from the Crosby, Stills, Nash and
Young school of business development. “Love the One You’re With,” Kasich said,
repeating the title of the folk song by Stephen Stills. Ohio first must promote
growth among its existing businesses before trying to attract new employers from
elsewhere, he said. Kasich fielded questions from the audience and those
attending shared their concerns. North Ridgeville Service Director Jeff
Armbruster, a former Republican state senator, said the community has a 1
percent income tax and the local governments do not have the fat to trim much
more. “I know at this time it’s tough,” Kasich said. However, the key to
improving municipal finances is for new businesses to start and grow, Kasich
said. The alternative is to raise taxes, he said, but if that happens Ohio will
lose jobs. Sheffield Village Mayor John Hunter, a Democrat, said Kasich is
making budget cuts on the backs of working men and women around the state.
Kasich countered that workers in the private sector economy are hurting and Ohio
is losing jobs to states such as Texas, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. Selling
Ohio’s prisons to private companies will drive up the police costs in Grafton,
said Village Council President Tom Smith. The governor stated the buyers would
pay local taxes, Smith said, but that policy was changed in Columbus. Kasich
promised to look into that policy because his prison chief earlier promised the
private prison operators would pay taxes.
May 3, 2011 Columbus Dispatch
Robert Klaffky, lobbyist and longtime friend and adviser of Gov. John
Kasich, was appointed by the governor to the Capitol Square Review and Advisory
Board last week. Klaffky helped devise Kasich's plan for JobsOhio - a private
economic-development entity - during Kasich's campaign last year. Klaffky's
lobbying gigs include, but are not limited to: the GEO Group Inc., which deals
in privatized prisons; CompManagement, a managed-care organization for workers'
compensation insurance; Intralot, USA, a gaming services operator; Altair
Learning Management, run by the founder of Ohio's only online charter school.
April 24, 2011 Toledo Blade
Gov. John Kasich promotes privatization as a way for state government to save
money and deliver public services more efficiently. But a credible new study
suggests the Kasich administration has yet to make a compelling case for selling
five state prisons to private contractors. The liberal advocacy group Policy
Matters Ohio examined purported savings over the past decade from private
operation of two state prisons. It concludes that the state’s methods for
calculating seemingly robust savings from the experiment were “riddled with
errors, oversights, and omissions of significant data” and were “potentially
tainted by controversial accounting assumptions.” Once those errors were
corrected, the study says, the actual savings were far less. The Ohio Department
of Rehabilitation and Correction concedes that previous computations of cost
savings were inconsistent and imprecise. A department spokesman says the Kasich
administration is using a more accurate method based on actual operating costs
of established prisons. The state posted bids for the purchase and sale of the
five prisons before the new accounting method came on line. The administration
insists updated calculations still show Ohio’s two current private prisons are
meeting their legal mandate to produce savings of at least 5 percent over what
it would cost the state to run them. Even so, the new study raises doubts about
the cost-saving claims associated with prison privatization. Before the state
sells more prisons to private entrepreneurs, the administration must show a
compelling fiscal rationale and, just as important, resolve concerns about
private prisons’ effectiveness and safety.
April 15, 2011 Columbus-Dispatch
Turning more Ohio prisons over to private operators won't save much money, will
undermine sentencing reform and will pose a security risk, the American Civil
Liberties Union of Ohio said yesterday. Prisons for Profit, an ACLU report
looking at prison privatization, concluded that Gov. John Kasich "is not doing
the taxpayers of Ohio any favors" by planning to sell five state prisons. "Doing
so will not only worsen the strain on Ohio's budget, it will also work strongly
against the rehabilitation of low-level offenders and jeopardize the safety of
ordinary Ohioans," the group concluded. About 9 percent of nearly 1.6 million
incarcerated people in the United States are in private prisons. The Kasich
administration has solicited bids to sell the state-owned, privately operated
Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Conneaut and North Coast Correctional
Treatment Facility in Grafton; the state-owned and operated North Central
Correctional Institution in Marion and Grafton Correctional Institution in
Grafton; and a closed youth prison in Marion. Estimates of the sale proceeds
range from $50million to $200 million. Administration officials say the deal
offers the state short-term gain from the sales revenue and long-term benefit by
reduced operating costs. However, the ACLU said national studies show cost
savings from private prisons are minimal. They do make money for operators such
as Corrections Corporation of America, the largest such firm in the United
States with $1.7 billion in income last year. Donald Thibaut, Kasich's close
friend and campaign adviser, is now a lobbyist for CCA, based in Nashville,
Tenn. Robert F. Klaffky and Douglas J. Preisse, also formerly in the Kasich
campaign's inner circle, are lobbying partners representing a competing private
prison firm, the CEO Group Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla. Sentencing reform, also a
goal of the Kasich administration, would be undermined, the ACLU said, because
private operators make money by keeping facilities full. In addition, the group
said, there are more inmate-on-inmate and inmate-on-staff assaults in private
versus government-owned prisons.
March 18, 2011 Chronicle-Telegram
State Rep. Matt Lundy is questioning whether it is a conflict of interest
for state prisons director Gary C. Mohr to be involved in the matter of selling
five Ohio prisons to private companies because Mohr used to work for Corrections
Corporation of America, one of the private prison operators who could bid on
purchasing Grafton Correction Institution and North Coast Correctional
Institution in Grafton. Lundy, D-Elyria, sent a letter to the Ohio Ethics
Commission on Thursday asking the group to make recommendations on what level of
involvement is proper for Mohr. “It is important that this perception of a
conflict of interest be addressed by putting ground rules in place,” Lundy
wrote. “This perception of a conflict of interest must be taken seriously and
addressed immediately.” Carlo LoParo, communications chief for the prison
system, accused Lundy of “playing politics.”
March 14, 2011 Chronicle-Telegram
The Grafton Correctional Institution and the North Coast Correctional Treatment
Facility will be sold as a package to a private prison operator, state Rep. Matt
Lundy, D-Elyria, said this morning. Lundy learned of the decision when he got a
phone call at 9 a.m. from Gary C. Mohr, director of the Ohio Department of
Rehabilitation and Correction, Lundy said. Grafton Correctional is one of two
state-operated prisons in Grafton. North Coast is privately operated. The staff
at the two prisons totals roughly 540 workers, according to their websites.
Together they hold more than 2,200 inmates. The state will choose a private
operator by the end of July, Lundy said, and it will begin running the prisons
at the start of 2012. The operator will conduct interviews for prospective
employees between Sept. 1 and the end of the year. Private operators typically
pay $13.25 per hour, less than state pay of $15 per hour, he said.
February 2, 2011 Columbus Dispatch
Gov. John Kasich said yesterday that there will be no special favors for three
of his former inner-circle campaign advisers now lobbying for clients that could
benefit from his administration's actions. Kasich, who during the campaign
railed against special interests with their "snouts in the trough," told The
Dispatch that clients of Donald Thibaut, Robert F. Klaffky and Douglas J.
Preisse will get no preferred treatment. "All of my friends understand," Kasich
said. "I've told them, 'You're crazy if you don't make it clear to (clients),
you don't get any favors out of me.' There is no favoritism." Thibaut, Kasich's
former congressional chief of staff and his acknowledged closest friend,
registered for the first time as a lobbyist in a firm he created, The Credo
Company. Among the six clients Thibaut reported signing up is Corrections
Corporation of America, a Nashville-based prison operator that could benefit if
Kasich seeks to privatize Ohio prisons. CCA currently operates a federal prison
in Youngstown. Gary C. Mohr, whom Kasich appointed director of the Ohio
Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, spent five years as a consultant
to CCA, which designs, builds and manages federal and state prisons. Klaffky and
Preisse, partners in the long-standing Capitol Square lobbying firm of Van
Meter, Ashbrook and Associates, represent The GEO Group Inc., a Florida-based
competitor of CCA.
January 31, 2011 AP
State lobbyist registration documents show a long-time adviser and political
ally to Gov. John Kasich (KAY'-sik) has lined up a stable of clients he'll pitch
to the new administration that specialize in energy, education, technology and
private prisons. One of Don Thibaut's (TEE'-bohz) clients, Corrections
Corporation of America, could stand to gain if Kasich pursues expanded prison
privatization to help close an estimated $8 billion budget gap. The company
retained Thibaut's new lobbying firm in mid-December. Thibaut spent nearly 20
years as Kasich's chief of staff in Congress and received compensation through
political committees associated with Kasich for a decade. Thibaut's lobbying
firm, The Credo Company, declined comment. Ohio already has two state-owned,
privately-run prisons. Neither is operated by CCA.
January 4, 2011 Columbus Dispatch
Gov.-elect John Kasich, who has said he wants to explore privatizing state
prison operations, has chosen a former longtime state prisons official who later
worked at a company that operates private prisons to run the Ohio Department of
Rehabilitation and Correction. Kasich introduced Gary C. Mohr during a press
conference this afternoon at the Ross County Courthouse in Chillicothe, Mohr's
hometown. He is the 11th cabinet nomination so far before Kasich takes office on
Monday. Kasich and Mohr pledged that all state decisions involving privatization
would publicly bid and transparent and that Mohr would abstain from any decision
involving his former employer, Corrections Corporation of America, a private
operator. Mohr, 57, worked for three decades in the state prison system, serving
as deputy agency director under former Republican Govs. George V. Voinovich and
Bob Taft. Mohr also held a variety of other positions, including as a warden in
Chillicothe and two other facilities and both deputy director and superintendent
of the Department of Youth Services. From 2007-09, Mohr was a managing director
for Nashville-based CCA which owns and operates a private prison in Youngstown
that houses federal inmates. The company runs 60 prison facilities housing
75,000 inmates in 18 states and the District of Columbia. Mohr currently is
chief executive of the consulting company, Mohr Correctional Insight, which has
mostly worked with CCA, including instituting a new management system for prison
staffing. He has been in that position since 2009 after earlier serving from
2005-07.
June 10, 2010 10 TV
Ohio prisons could soon become corporations if lawmakers pass a bill that would
privatize up to half of the state's correctional facilities. An e-mail sent by
the Ernie Moore, the director of Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and
Correction, warned workers of the possibility, 10 Investigates' Paul Aker
reported on Thursday. Supporters of the bill said privatizing prisons could save
tax dollars, but the prison system's union employees worry it means they will be
out of work. The Ohio Civil Service Employees Association posted the news on its
Web site and is planning for a statehouse battle. "They're worried about, of
course, the privatization of their jobs," said OCSEA Union President Charlie
Williamson. The bill asks to study and plan for a hand-over of half of Ohio's
prisons in the next couple of years. "We see this as an opportunity to explain
what we do and why it's important," Williamson said. Sen. Tim Grendell is
co-sponsoring the bill. Grendell said the plan is about cutting costs, not
cutting jobs, as lawmakers look for ways to close a looming $8 billion deficit.
Grendell said he hopes to hold hearings on the bill by August. Union officials
said the two prisons that already are privately run are not saving the state any
money, but senate leaders think privatization could save between 10 to 20
percent a year.
January 19, 2003
Ohio's deepening budget
problems likely will force the closing of another
state
prison -- the second in as many years.
The prison to be closed remains undetermined.
Last year, the state shut down the 17-year-old Orient Correctional
Institution to save about $19 million a year.
Irwin M. Scharfeld, executive director of the Ohio Civil Service
Employees Association, the union representing prison employees, said the
private prisons should go first.
"It's more cost-effective to close the private ones,'' he said.
"It can be done almost overnight with less impact to employees.''
(The Columbus Dispatch)
February 9, 2002
Some top Ohio lawmakers went to Washington yesterday to lobby the federal
government to turn the soon-to-be-closed Orient Correctional Institution into a
federal prison. Unfortunately for them, the real lobbyist were there
first. The state has competition in its own back yard from the Corrections
Corporation of America, which is peddling its shuttered private prison in
Youngstown to the federal Bureau of Prisons. (The Columbus Dispatch)
Queensgate Jail
Hamilton County, Ohio
CCA
December 24, 2008 Business Courier of Cincinnati
The Tennessee company that owns the Queensgate jail is trying to maintain
its lease with the Hamilton County, a move that could inflate rental costs for a
facility shut down in a budget-cutting move. The 822-bed jail, closed by
Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis on Dec. 19, is owned by Nashville-based
Community Corrections Corp. of America. It signed a two-year lease extension in
2007 that requires the county to pay about $190,000 in monthly rent. Hamilton
County officials have complained for years about the condition of the building.
That’s why the lease includes provisions to let the county out of its contract
if neither party is willing to make necessary repairs, said Jeffrey Aluotto,
assistant Hamilton County administrator. “Both parties understood and recognized
the significant repairs that were necessary on that facility,” Alluoto said. “If
neither party elects to make the repairs, the lease terminates. It’s really that
simple.” In late November, the county sent CCA a list of repairs, including a
roof replacement, new hot water systems, an emergency power generator and
heating and air conditioning improvements. On Dec. 10, CCA sent a letter to
Hamilton County Administrator Patrick Thompson that it was willing to make some,
but not all of the repairs. CCA estimated the repairs would cost $4.5 million.
On Dec. 16, Thompson notified CCA that the county would vacate the building,
terminating the lease sometime in the next 90 days. A spokesman for CCA said the
company is working on a response to the county’s latest letter, but that
response will not include CCA’s agreement that the contract is over. “It
certainly would be our goal for the lease to continue,” said spokesman Steve
Owen. “We’re still going through their list and working on a way to address
their concerns.”
December 21, 2008 AP
One of Hamilton County's four jails has shut its doors because of budget
cuts, the first time a jail has closed in the county without a new one in line
to take its place. The closing Friday came as state officials consider ways to
shrink the state prison population in light of a projected $7 billion state
budget deficit over the next two years. Jails and prisons represent a large
portion of both local government and state budgets. Hamilton County Sheriff
Simon Leis and other county officials said there is simply no money to keep the
822-bed Queensgate jail -- which houses low- and medium-security prisoners --
open. The jail closed quietly Friday, as the last dozen or so inmates were led
out to black sheriff's office vans and taken to other county jails. About 70 to
80 inmates had been at the jail Friday morning. There were no signs or
announcements. Two people who had come to visit inmates found the door locked
and the building empty.
December 16, 2008 Cincinnati Enquirer
For the first time in memory, Hamilton County will be closing a jail without
opening a new one to replace it. Hamilton County commissioners are expected to
pass a 2009 budget Wednesday night, and neither the three commissioners nor the
county sheriff have found the $10 million needed to keep the 800-bed Queensgate
jail open. That means the proposed closure is real. The county's second-largest
jail will likely close by the end of the year. The sheriff has been releasing
inmates early, refusing admissions and delaying sentences to cut the population.
As of early Monday, the inmate count for the Queensgate jail stood at 212. The
closure leaves many concerned about public safety. "If there's one less option
available ... there certainly will be instances where there's a recurrence of a
crime," said Hamilton County Municipal Judge Fanon Rucker. The sheriff's office
stressed that serious felons and violent offenders will remain locked up. But
with fewer jail beds, the profiles of those being released early or turned away
will get worse. "We've dipped into people with violent histories, even if they
aren't here on a violent crime," said sheriff's spokesman Steve Barnett. The cut
is the product of the worst county budget crisis in memory, caused by an
economic slowdown that devastated major revenue sources. The jail closing might
be the most high-profile cut. Other potential public safety cuts, such as
funding for township patrols, are still being discussed. The budget also will
include hundreds of job cuts, closing two of the clerk of courts' satellite
offices, and possible reduction of operating hours for the Recorder's Office. It
also cuts the Juvenile Court budget which likely will mean the closure of 20
beds in the juvenile detention center known as "2020" because of its address at
2020 Auburn Ave. in Mount Auburn. The Queensgate jail is a converted warehouse
that opened in 1992 as a temporary solution to jail crowding. It houses
lower-level offenders such those convicted of drunken driving, theft or other
misdemeanor crimes. A breakdown of charges for inmates there was not available
Monday. The county leases the building from Corrections Corp. of America.
September 12, 2007 City Beat
It's rare to find a local issue so volatile that it not only pits Republicans
against Republicans and Democrats against Democrats but also forges an unusual
alliance between conservative and liberal groups who otherwise wouldn't even
talk to each other, much less cooperate on a political campaign. The controversy
over increasing Hamilton County's sales tax to build a new jail has accomplished
that unusual feat and this one: allegations that no-nonsense Sheriff Simon Leis
Jr. might have broken state election laws in his vigorous lobbying for the tax
hike... Beginning last year, Heimlich and DeWine cut a deal with Butler County
to house up to 400 prisoners there at a cost of $55 per prisoner each day. The
deal mostly ended early releases until Hamilton County officials settled on a
plan to build a new jail, but critics call it an expensive option that cannot be
used indefinitely. Although the latest proposal would build an 1,800-bed jail,
the net increase in new space is 784 beds because the county would close an
aging facility it rents in Queensgate as well as shuttering its Reading Road and
Turning Point jail facilities to save money by consolidating operations. By
consolidating the facilities, the county's jail consultants say it would save
about $7.5 million annually or roughly $225 million over a 30-year period. The
Queensgate facility has been criticized for not meeting contemporary jail
standards. Prisoners are kept in an open area on cots on each of the building's
levels. Leis and other county officials say the design poses a security threat
and is dangerous for both prisoners and deputies. When Hamilton County began
using the Queensgate space in the mid-1990s, state corrections officials allowed
the arrangement only because it was supposed to be temporary and close in 1999.
Sales tax opponents criticize Leis for not letting them tour the facility to see
conditions firsthand. Moreover, they say the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation
and Correction inspects the facility each year, most recently in February, and
found it met all 62 minimum standards set for jails. Mike Sieving, Hamilton
County's construction project executive, says the Queensgate facility isn't
structurally sound and it would take about $44 million to correct the problems.
The county rents the facility from the Corrections Corp. of America (CCA), which
has been reluctant to make any improvements on its own. "The cost to make those
repairs would actually be double that, because we'd have to finance them, and we
still wouldn't own the building," Sieving says. Also, Ohio corrections officials
have classified Queensgate only as a minimum-security facility, but Hamilton
County has housed medium- and maximum-security prisoners there because of the
space crunch. "When the state evaluates Queensgate, they assume they will all be
minimum-security folks kept there," Sieving says. "The standards require that
they be segregated from everyone else, but we have to put them where we can."
The Queensgate building, which is about a century old, has bowing walls that
have no insulation or waterproofing. Sewers routinely back up and overflow when
there is rainy weather, and the foundation is cracked. Additionally, Queensgate
has older-style magnetized door locks that would fail if there ever were a total
electrical blackout, which officials fear could occur due to the facility's
aging generators. Hamilton County pays $2.2 million annually to CCA to use the
site, an amount that typically increases by about 4 percent per year. "If the
sales tax is voted down, it would be like shooting fish in a barrel to negotiate
a new lease," Sieving says. "They would know this is our only option."
March 26, 2007 WLWT
County commissioners cannot count on the existing jail as a temporary solution
while a new jail is built, the facility’s owner said. County Commissioner Pat
DeWine had proposed using the Queensgate jail for another 10 or 15 years, but
the jail’s owner requested in an e-mail Monday that the building be removed from
consideration. The Queensgate jail is inside a warehouse that is more than 100
years old and is operated by Corrections Corporation of America.
Summit
County Justice Center
Summit County, Ohio
Oriana House
November 25, 2003
Summit County's common pleas judges need to get a grip on, and provide more
control over, the Community Based Correctional Facility that it created 16 years
ago, according to a performance audit to be released today by State Auditor
Betty Montgomery. And because CBCF Director James Lawrence is also the
president of Oriana House -- the private, nonprofit corporation the county hired
to run the facility -- Montgomery referred the matter to the Ohio Ethics
Commission for review. Under such an arrangement, the audit said, ``the
director is required to oversee the financial activities of his own
corporation,'' presenting a potential conflict of interest. ``In terms of
fulfilling its mission, Oriana House and Summit CBCF appear to get the job
done,'' Montgomery said, ``but we have grave concerns about the lack of checks
and balances in the way the program is governed.'' The audit is the latest
turn in a continuing fracas over the county's alternative jail program and the
larger corporation that runs it. Both the privately run alternative jail
and its parent company, Oriana House Inc., have been under the direction of
Lawrence since it was established in 1987. As the county's sole private
contractor for alternative jail services, Oriana has been under increasing
scrutiny during the past several years for receiving more than $60 million in
unbid county contracts. Among a raft of recommendations to be made today
by Montgomery's office are tighter reins on costs, regular competitive bidding
and stronger oversight by the Judicial Corrections Board, which is made up of
the county's judges. (Ohio.com)
September 24, 2003
Nobody expected Betty Montgomery's special audit of Oriana House to proceed
without friction. The state auditor, a possible Republican candidate for
governor in 2006, has close ties to Alex Arshinkoff, the Summit County
Republican Party chairman, who has long questioned operations at Oriana House.
James Lawrence, the Oriana House president, also has political connections, and
he isn't shy about using them. Lawrence often plays both sides of the aisle with
his contributions. Locally, he has been close to Wayne Jones, the Summit County
Democratic Party finance chairman. Even so, Montgomery's special audit,
announced early this year, appeared to be going smoothly -- until early
September, when she went after the financial records of Correctional Health
Services Inc. Correctional Health is a wholly owned, for-profit subsidiary of
the nonprofit Oriana House. Lawrence moved to block the search, filing suit in
Franklin County Common Pleas Court. To make a credible assessment of
Oriana House, Montgomery must follow the public money. Oriana House has received
more than $60 million as the sole provider of alternative jail services to
Summit County with no competition and, until recently, too little financial
oversight. In this situation, the relationships are clear and direct.
Oriana House and Correctional Health are both headed by Lawrence. They share the
same address. Oriana House receives tax dollars to operate; Correctional Health
supplies services for and leases space and other property to Oriana House.
(The Beacon Journal)
Tom Eberly worked for Summit County
for only eight months before he was fired, but that was enough time to step on
some powerful toes. The trouble started when a consultant issued a damning
report about Summit County's Criminal Justice system. The report had been a year
in the making and cost taxpayers $195,500, so Eberly--the county's new
fresh-faced, 35-year-old criminal justice coordinator--naturally saw as his job
to pursue some of the report's ideas. But those changes would have diminished
the flow of government contracts and power enjoyed by Oriana House, a company
that has grown to become the largest private player in the county's corrections
system. The company had resisted changes to its multimillion-dollar contracts
before, and would resist Eberly, too. Oriana House's president has given more
than $100,000 to Ohio politicians in the past six years, and the single biggest
recipient was Eberly's then-boss, County Executive Tim Davis. Before long,
Eberly was out the door. County leaders are poised to ignore the advice of their
own consultant and hand Oriana House $4.8 million in new contracts Tuesday--once
again without competitive bidding. Normally, that would be illegal, but in 1999
a powerful state senator -- the now retired Roy Ray, who had received campaign
contributions, too--pushed through a special provision tailored specifically for
Oriana House making the bids unnecessary. Until recently, the county had
commissioned an outside audit only once to ensure Oriana House is meeting the
terms of its contracts--and hired Oriana House's own accounting firm to do the
work. So county officials commissioned a third study. This time, they hired Alan
Kalmanoff, director of the Institute for Law and Policy Planning in Berkeley,
California. Kalmanoff issued a report that lambasted county officials for
allowing Oriana House to take over the criminal justice system. He described a
"lavish" community corrections system, a county executive with
"inadequate control" and "inappropriate" no-bid contracts.
Kalmanff's unusually strongly worded report hinted at quid-pro-quo political
contributions and patronage, but even he may not have realized the extent. While
Oriana House's fortunes flourished Lawrence regularly attended campaign
fund-raiser and emerged as a top political giver. Lawrence also became an
influential supporter of key state lobbyists, including the brother of Ohio
Auditor Jim Petro. In all, Lawrence contributed more than $100,000 during
the past six years to local, state, and federal campaigns, most of it in Summit
County. Locally, the top recipients were Davis, former Sheriff Richard Warren
and Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic, all Democrats.
Summit County Jail
Summit, Ohio
Prison Health Services
March 25, 2004
A woman who works as a registered nurse at the Summit County Jail now finds
herself behind bars. Akron resident Mary M. Gatskie, 57, was charged
Tuesday with one felony count of theft of dangerous drugs after Summit County
sheriff's detectives received a tip that she had taken drugs from the jail.
When investigators went to the woman's Sunset Avenue home Tuesday to question
her, Lt. John Karabatsos said, they saw a pill bottle with another person's name
on it in her kitchen. After being questioned about the bottle, Gatskie
admitted taking the drugs from the jail, Karabatsos said. A subsequent
search uncovered a variety of other drugs, including ones prescribed to inmates
for mental health reasons. ``These drugs were intended for inmates,'' Karabatsos
said. Gatskie is not a county employee, but works for Prison Health
Services, which is under contract to provide medical services to inmates. She
has worked at the jail for about two years. Karabatsos said that Gatskie,
as a regular worker at the jail, was not patted down for drugs, but was checked
daily for concealed weapons. A Summit County grand jury could add charges,
Karabatsos said. (Beacon Journal)
Trumbell County
Jail
Trumbell, Ohio
Acme Steak Co.
January 6, 2003
Food costs for the
Trumbull County Jail dropped by about 27 percent
the
first full month since officials made the switch from a no-bid agreement with a
Youngstown company to the state purchasing program.
The drop came despite the addition of about 4,000 meals in December than
the previous month, as the jail kitchen started dishing up meals for inmates at
the juvenile center.
"I'm very happy about it," said Ernie Cook, chief deputy of the
sheriff's department, which runs the adult jail.
He estimated that by using state purchasing instead of Acme Steak Co.,
taxpayers will save about $32,000 a year. (The Vindicator)
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