Summit County

Jail Operations Advisory
Commission

Report and Recommendations

August 24, 2018

SUMMIT COUNTY COUNCIL
David Hamilton
District 5 Representative
Chair, Public Safety Committee

August 14, 2018
Summit County Council
175 S. Main St. Suite 700
Akron, OH 44308
To: Members of Summit County Council
On October 2, 2017 I introduced legislation to enact the Summit County Jail Advisory Commission, which was
later passed unanimously by Summit County Council. The Commission consists of an eleven-member body of
individuals who reflect the community as a whole. The Commission was charged with obtaining an
understanding of both the financial and operational functions of the jail, identifying best practices and providing
a report with recommendations in an effort to improve operations at the Summit County Jail for both staff and
inmates.
The attached report is the culmination of several months of meetings, professional testimony and hours of
research and deliberation on issues pertaining to the Summit County Jail. I respectfully ask my fellow members
of Council to review the report in full as your consideration is greatly valued.
I would like to wholeheartedly thank all the members of the Commission and their respective staff members for
their commitment and service throughout this process. I am proud to live in a community where such dedicated
and talented individuals from various backgrounds can come together and work so effectively.
If you have questions about the Commission or the report, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at any time.
Sincerely,

David Hamilton
Summit County Council
District 5 Representative
Enclosure

˜ Ohio’s First Charter County ™
175 S. Main Street · 7th Floor · Akron · Ohio · 44308-1314
T: (330) 643-2725 · F: (330) 643-2531 · Northern Summit County: (800) 582-2699
www.co.summit.oh.us

 Table of Contents
Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... 4
Background ................................................................................................................................... 7
Sheriff’s Statutory Duties ..................................................................................................... 7
Sheriff’s Responsibility with Regard to the County Jail.................................................... 7
Jail Personnel ......................................................................................................................... 8
Staffing.................................................................................................................................... 9
Minimum Training Requirements ....................................................................................... 9
Use of Community Corrections .......................................................................................... 10
Budget ................................................................................................................................... 12
Policing Contracts................................................................................................................ 12
Recommendations ....................................................................................................................... 14
FINANCE ................................................................................................................................. 14
USE OF FORCE & JAIL CONDITIONS ............................................................................ 17
IMPROVING INMATE SERVICES .................................................................................... 20

3

 Executive Summary
The Summit County Jail Operations Advisory Commission was convened at the request of
Councilman David Hamilton to identify and explore the Summit County Jail’s operations,
staffing and conditions. Due to limited financial resources, the opiate crisis, and increased State
funding cuts, operations at the Jail have become increasingly strained. Increased arrests due to
the opiate epidemic, as well as prosecutions and incarcerations for drug related offenses have
created a situation of population control, which is further straining the staff and inmates at the
facility. The purpose of the Commission is to provide advisory input for improving operations at
the Jail, for the benefit and safety of Jail staff and inmates.
The Commission appointees embody a cross-representation of the criminal justice community, as
well as a consumer. The Commission appointments include:
•
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Ilene Shapiro – Executive, Summit County (designee Lori Pesci)
Randy Briggs – City of Akron, Mayor’s Office
Vince Morber – Police Chief, City of Barberton
David Hamilton – Councilman, Summit County
Sherri Bevan Walsh - Prosecutor, Summit County (designee John Galonski)
Amy Corrigall Jones – Judge, Summit County Common Pleas Court (designee Robert
Gainer)
Jaland Finney – consumer
Judi Hill – President, Akron NAACP
J. Dean Carro – Attorney and former Professor of Law, University of Akron
Beth Scruggs – Former Sheriff’s Office employee
Sheriff Steve Barry (designee Shane Barker – Captain, Summit County Sheriff’s Office)

The Commission held its first meeting on December 13, 2017 and established the following
goals:
•

Obtain a thorough understanding of the operations of the Summit County Jail, including
but not limited to, staffing, inmate services, medical services, population control
measures, and force protocol.

•

Identify best practices used in similarly situated jails for matters including, but not
limited to the same.

•

Obtain a thorough understanding of the financial constraints limiting the staffing and
inmate services, and impact population control at the Summit County Jail.

•

Identify potential financial solutions and operational savings that allow for improved
staffing levels, inmate services and population control at the Summit County Jail.
4

 •

Obtain a thorough understanding of the steps presently being taken to improve diversity
amongst the staff at the Summit County Jail and identify best practices.

•

Provide County Council, the County Executive, and the County Sheriff with a report
documenting the steps taken to fulfill the objectives above, and make recommendations
to the County Council, the County Executive, and the County Sheriff to address
operational and financial issues at the Summit County Jail, including but not limited to,
staffing, inmate services, medical services, population control measures, use of force
protocol, and diversity of jail staff.

The Commission identified key issues to be addressed and divided into three subcommittees:
•

Finance (Lori Pesci, Randy Briggs, Vince Morber)

•

Inmate Services/Understaffing/Overcrowding (David Hamilton, John Galonski, Judge
Amy Corrigall Jones, Jaland Finney)

•

Use of Force & Jail Conditions (Judi Hill, J. Dean Carro, Beth Scruggs, Shane Barker)

The three subcommittees submitted a narrative of their respective processes and preliminary
recommendations. Many of the recommendations overlapped and there was a definitive focus on
inmate services being restored and addressing staffing deficiencies of both sworn and civilian
staff. There was a sincere and general consensus that increasing the available activities for the
inmates would serve to decrease tension for both the inmates and the deputies. An emphasis was
placed on the mental health of the inmate population in their ability to access services as well as
suicide prevention. Each subcommittee addressed the positive impact the re-designation of the
Glenwood Jail facility to a Community Alternative Sentencing Center (CASC) may have on the
operations of the Jail, specifically regarding the restoration of 12-15 deputies to the Jail. As the
reports displayed significant overlap, some of the proposed actions are listed in multiple
locations.
The Finance Subcommittee identified concerns with policing contracts, including developing a
mechanism to ensure accuracy of costs attributed to services and ensuring the necessity of these
services while balancing statutory requirements. Community Corrections was a prominent area
of focus, with recommendations including utilizing deputies from the Glenwood Jail as well as
potentially refilling retiree positions at Glenwood with corrections officers. Additionally, while
not a replacement for deputies, the installation and use of cameras would also help to reduce
overtime costs and allow for more effective and safe operations for deputies and inmates.
Staffing could also be improved with new scheduling software, exploring the option of all/most
deputies moving to 12-hour shifts, which would shift savings to yield the availability of
additional deputies, and explore options of moving towards corrections officers at the Jail. Reevaluating the current staffing structure and CASC designation of Glenwood to yield additional
deputies back to the Jail are also additional considerations.
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 The Inmate Services and Understaffing/Overcrowding Subcommittee’s focus was the ultimate
reduction in inmate and staff stress levels through the reimplementation of inmate programming
at the Summit County Jail. Increasing services requires an increase in staff levels. Therefore, the
primary recommendation is to hire additional inmate service workers. The types of services the
group felt should be restored included reopening and providing additional/restored equipment in
the gymnasium, expansion of the library to a “resource room” and religious services, allowing
for Clergy to have broader access to inmates and providing a wider range of religious materials.
In addition, the Subcommittee identified the need for a reentry liaison to assist in coordinating
services for individuals being released from jail. Finally, the group also acknowledged the need
to improve inmate access to mental health services.
The Use of Force & Jail Conditions Subcommittee identified areas of concern surrounding the
need for continued training for deputies, reduction in stress levels, and inmate services.
Continued training for deputies is crucial in providing updates on use of force, training that is
specific to inmates with mental health issues and concerns, diversity and inclusion, as well as
trauma informed care. Another area of concern is the importance of reducing stress levels at the
Jail for both deputies and inmates. To reduce stress, the Jail should be adequately staffed with
more consistent shift alignment, additional support services for staff. Stress levels would be
further reduced following the restoration of inmate services such as gym access, library/resource
center, AA/NA meetings, access to Clergy and religious services, and due process in disciplinary
actions.
As a group, there was agreement that there is no panacea, and no singular recommendation will
make a total improvement, however, a combination of the recommendations provided in this
report will have the most meaningful impact.

6

 Background
The Summit County Sheriff’s Office was established in 1840. To date, 37 individuals have held
the position of Summit County Sheriff. The office is currently led by Sheriff Steve Barry, who
was first elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2016.
The Sheriff’s Office consists of two divisions: Operations and Corrections. The focus of the
Operations Division is to provide community outreach and response policing services. As a
result, community policing has been the impetus behind such programs as our D.A.R.E, School
Resource Officer, Senior Visitation Initiative, and numerous other services. The philosophy
behind these initiatives helps to improve the quality of life for everyone in our county. This
mission is carried out by various units, including Patrol, Training, Communications/Dispatch,
Investigations, Court Services, Personnel, and Fiscal.
The Corrections Division is charged with operating the Summit County Jail (capacity 791) and
Glenwood Jail (capacity 133) as both are classified by the State of Ohio as "full service"
detention centers. That means they are operated twenty-four (24) hours a day, three hundred
sixty-five (365) days a year. It is, therefore, required that the facility be properly staffed for the
safety and protection of the inmates and staff twenty-four (24) hours a day.
The Summit County Sheriff’s office employs 342 sworn and 78 civilian employees and operates
with a $32 million budget.
Sheriff’s Statutory Duties
Throughout this evaluation, the Commission was mindful and cognizant of the Sheriff’s statutory
duties as established by Ohio Revised Code 311.07 and Chapter 341. The three duties that every
Sheriff in Ohio has are to operate the Jail, provide security for the Common Pleas Court and the
Court of Appeals and to serve all warrants, writs, orders and other processes (sex offender
registration, CCW license) as directed by a lawful and proper authority. Anything else that the
Sheriff undertakes is an extra and self-imposed duty.
Sheriff’s Responsibility with Regard to the County Jail
R.C. 341.01 designates the sheriff as the officer in charge of the county jail, and all persons
confined within the jail. The sheriff’s duties are broadly defined and include responsibility for
the safety of the inmates, maintenance of the jail facility and operation of the jail according to the
jail standards promulgated by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (DRC).
The sheriff must also prepare written operational policies and procedures and prisoner rules of
conduct, and maintain the records prescribed by these policies and procedures in accordance with
the jail standards (R.C. 341.02). Failure to properly operate the jail could subject the sheriff to
criminal penalties (R.C. 2921.44(C)) and may result in civil liability.

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 Specifically, the sheriff must do the following:
1. Maintain a jail register with each inmate’s name, date of and reason for incarceration, and
date and manner of discharge (R.C. 341.04).
2. Visit the jail at least monthly to gauge condition of inmates (R.C. 341.04).
3. Keep an account relative to the actual cost of care and feeding of inmates; furnish
account to the county commissioners or county council (R.C. 311.20).
4. Make both the account and register of inmates open and available to the public (R.C.
311.20).
5. Maintain, where possible, separation of inmates relative to classification (R.C. 341.09).
6. Keep juvenile offenders separate from adult inmates relative to sight, sound and touch,
including any booking time (R.C. 341.11).
7. Permit inmate contact with an attorney and furnish facilities for this purpose (R.C.
2935.20).
8. Convey sentenced felons to state penal institutions within five days after imposition of
sentence (R.C. 2949.12).
Jail Personnel
Jail personnel manning levels tend to be subjective. Federal judges, state judges, sheriffs, jail
administrators, deputies, jail staff, and commissioners may all disagree on what constitutes
adequate jail staffing levels. Under R.C. 341.05 the sheriff is responsible for assigning sufficient
staff to ensure the safe and secure operation of the county jail but is bound by the funding which
is appropriated by the board of county commissioners or County Council for the jail operation
and staffing. This section also allows a sheriff to use civilian jail officers who are not deputies to
conduct security duties in the jail. It is important to remember that, as in most other public safety
services, a jail is a 24 hour /7 days a week /365 days a year operation. As such, certain
constraints result regarding the number of full-time equivalent employees required to “fill” a
position and mandatory overtime requirements. Whether the sheriff chooses to utilize his
commissioned deputies or other personnel there are basic training requirements based upon the
position description and not “deputy” status that must be met. An employee’s job responsibilities
within the jail will also be a factor in determining employee and employer contributions into the
state’s Public Employees’ Retirement System (OPERS).

8

 Staffing
The jail standards address the adequacy of staffing and require a staffing plan but do not
establish any criteria regarding the actual number of staff members necessary to run a jail of any
classification. The jail standards (OAC 5120:1-8-17) require full service and minimum-security
jails to:
1. Have a designated jail administrator who is qualified by training or experience to
supervise and control prisoners as outlined in a written job description.
2. Complete pre-employment background checks prior to hiring of jail staff.
3. Complete annual standardized performance reviews of jail employees.
4. Maintain a written staffing plan that includes jail personnel assignments and all posts and
functions, a calculated shift relief factor, sufficient numbers of male and female jail staff
on-duty and available to perform sensitive functions and procedures as necessary by
prisoner gender, and total number of employees required to fill identified posts and
functions.
5. Reflect in the staffing plan that the facility has staff for administration and supervision;
prisoner programs; prisoner supervision, custody and back up; support services including
medical, food service, maintenance and clerical; staff training; and other jail-related
functions such as escort and transportation of prisoners.
6. Provide for annual review of the staffing plan and revision as needed.
Minimum Training Requirements
Training requirements (OAC 5120:1-8-18) are not subjective. The jail standards identify three
categories of jail employees: administrators and supervisors; correctional officers/jail staff; and
jail support staff. Training hours for each category of employee are set in the jail standards and
the programming within those hours is developed by the Ohio Police Officer Training
Commission (OPOTA) (OAC109:2-9-02).
Jail Support Staff: persons whose job function does not reflect a primary responsibility for the
security and/or supervision of prisoners. Training requirements:
1. Prior to or in conjunction with assignment to jail duties - training in pertinent agency
policies and procedures.
2. 40 hours of training during the first year of assignment - including legal aspects of
corrections, security concepts, emergencies, interpersonal communications, first aid/CPR,
unarmed self-defense and the jail standards.

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 3. 16 hours of in-service training each subsequent year of employment - addressing specific
job assignments and/or jail related issues.
Corrections/Jail Staff: persons whose positions consist primarily of duties that require prisoner
supervision, direct interaction with prisoners, and responsibility for the safety and security of
prisoners and of the facility. Training requirements:
1. Within sixty days of employment - training in jail policies and procedures.
2. During the first year of assignment - training for the number of hours and curriculum
established by OPOTA which must include training in the following areas:
administration, legal, jail security, human relations, special inmate needs, and technical
skills.
3. 24 hours of in-service training each subsequent year of employment - addressing specific
job assignments and/or jail related issues.
Administrators and Supervisors: have managerial responsibility for the jail or supervise
employee’s security assignments or activities in the jail. Training requirements:
1. Prior to assignment to jail duties - completion of the training required for correctional
officers and training in jail policies and procedures.
2. 40 hours of training during the first six months of assignment - including legal aspects of jail
management, managerial principles, labor relations and records/information management.
3. 24 hours of in-service training each subsequent year of employment - addressing special
issues, skills-enhancement and other assignment related topics.
Use of Community Corrections
Currently Summit County contracts for Community Corrections programming, providing judges
sentencing alternatives, which may be in addition to or in lieu of incarceration and allow the
courts to follow a continuum of sanctions model and assist in diverting people from jail.
Individuals are referred to these programs through the various courts, the Ohio Department of
Rehabilitation and Correction or Adult Parole Authority, as well as direct referrals. Upon
referral, the individual is given a risk/needs assessment [Ohio Risk Assessment System – ORAS]
to determine which program is best suited based on the individual’s risk and needs and may
include services or training for: cognitive skills, employment, education, family issues and
substance abuse.

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 There are two types of programs: Residential and Non-Residential.
Residential programming includes placement at:
•

Glenwood Jail – for various levels of DUI offenders and driver intervention

•

Halfway House – for adult felony, misdemeanor and traffic offenders and parolees in
need of long-term rehabilitative programming.

•

Work Release and Employment Placement – specifically focused to assist individuals
who are unemployed or in school

•

Community Based Correctional Facility (CBCF) – highly structured and secure program
assisting individuals reentering into the community

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Medication Assisted Community Based Correctional Facility (MAT-CBCF) – to provide
medication assisted treatment to opioid dependent clients

•

Special Housing Adjustment Residential Program (SHARP) – to provide a structured
living environment for severely mentally disabled clients and to assist with reintegrating
them into the community

•

Alternative Environment Program – to divert clients with developmental disabilities from
the Summit County Jail, providing them with a restrictive, structured residential
community corrections environment pending trial and disposition

Non-residential programming includes:
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Day Reporting and Transitional Services

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Electronic Monitoring and GPS Programs

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Alcohol Monitoring

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Recovery Housing

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Specialized Court Dockets programs
o
o
o
o

Akron Recovery Court and Turning Point (Common Pleas)
Summit County Reentry Court
Akron Municipal Family Intervention Program
Summit County Prosecutor Pretrial Diversion Program

Currently, the County spends over $5 million in general fund dollars and receives some grant
funding to support these programs.
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 Budget
Summit County Finance and Budget Director Brian Nelson, provided an overview of the
County’s budget and how the Sheriff’s portion fits into the overall budget. The Sheriff’s Office
personnel emphasized how big a financial hardship it has experienced since 2008. That is true.
However, it’s a decade later and the economy is what it is. Every county and local government
entity, agency and department has been affected and needs to change and adapt to the new
normal. According to Director Nelson, the Sheriff’s operating budget dropped 10.1% from 2008
to 2016. During that same period, cuts of 19 to 40 percent fell on other county agencies.
Recognizing the economic outlook, in 2009 County Executive Russ Pry ordered the Sheriff’s
Department to start charging appropriately and begin paying the true costs of what it costs to
police communities that contract with the Sheriff’s Office. At that time, the cost of dispatching
started to be included into contracts. Previously, contracting communities received free
dispatching. Since then, prices for Sheriff’s Office services have gone up because as Sheriff
Barry stated in 2014, “… the county government can no longer use general fund monies to
subsidize additional personnel in those areas and that’s what’s going on here.” The questions
asked most are these: Are the Sheriff’s Office contracts today charging the true cost of policing?
Or are other Summit County taxpayers with their own police departments continuing to subsidize
policing protection in communities other than their own? It is a particularly poignant question
because other than Akron (which pays for misdemeanor beds) suburban communities cannot take
a person charged with a misdemeanor to the Summit County Jail and it is getting more difficult
to get felons into the County Jail.
Policing Contracts
As to the Sheriff’s statutory duties discussed earlier, they do not include police patrol. Patrol has
been a historical function of the Sheriff for townships and unincorporated areas, but it is not
today. Some believe that the Summit County Jail suffers at the cost of maintaining patrols in
Green, Coventry, Northfield, Twinsburg Township. The Sheriff says that is not the case. His
office maintains that the contract communities pay for all the costs associated with policing and
he is giving them what they pay for.
Using materials provided to us by the Sheriff’s Office, the monies collected from the contracts
go into their own fund. It is called the Rotary Fund, Account #10124-3025-15077/19002. All
these contracts are for contracted policing patrol services. 72 people are listed as being paid out
of that fund; (1) direct indictment officer, (9) dispatchers, (7) sergeants and (55) deputies.
Charges for radio fees and cruisers are included also. This all sounds good and fair. But when
one looks at the Sheriff’s own organizational chart, it has 103 individuals listed in Operations –
Patrol. How can that be? Who is paying for them since the contract (Rotary) fund is only being
charged for 72 people? It begets other questions such as how police patrol operates with just
sergeants? Using the information provided to the Committee, it did not list any supervisors over
the rank of sergeant being paid out of the contract (Rotary) fund. Who is paying for the other 31
12

 employees that are listed as being in patrol? Shouldn’t those costs be included in a patrol
policing contract? Are the taxpayers of Summit County are continuing to subsidize policing in
contract communities?
An in-depth follow up meeting with Summit County Finance and Budget Director Brian Nelson
shed more light on the issue and answered most of these questions. By going over and
explaining/showing the Excel spreadsheets and actual calculation factors in greater detail, he
demonstrated how the Executive’s Office truly endeavors to capture all costs that are specified in
the policing contracts. For example, administrative costs are charged for a Lieutenant, relative to
the amount of time his job is calculated to deal with the Patrol function. Other more indirect
costs, such as insurance, legal, human resources and other back end costs are charged back
proportionally as well. The other 31 listed employees in Patrol on the organizational chart is the
result of a not so up to date or truly reflective accounting for Patrol. Director Nelson’s frankness
and transparency in explaining how known costs are calculated is appreciated and it’s clear he
continues to work at peeling back the layers of operations to understand and charge those full
costs.
The Executive’s Office leadership discuss and talk to the Sheriff’s Department staff on a regular
basis to understand operations and fully capture all the costs. Some current topics that they are
exploring are how special services are operationally used. D.A.R.E., Senior Services, Canine,
Quick Response Team, Crime Scene, S.W.A.T. and others are used exclusively and/or primarily
in contract communities. Should those costs be charged accordingly also? Which jail(s) are
arrested individuals from contract communities being booked into and are they charged? The
City of Akron pays a significant amount for jail beds at the Summit County Jail. Suburban
communities incur costs operating their own jails (Cuyahoga Falls and Barberton) or contract
with a local jail to take misdemeanants and low-level felons that the Summit County Jail won’t
accept; especially pre-arraignment prisoners. How much time are general assignment detectives
spending on cases in contract communities versus other jurisdictions? Are general fund jail
deputies used to relieve patrol deputies when they are out/off for any number of reasons, further
exacerbating the personnel issues at the Jail? These are operational questions that the Finance
and Budget Office are asking to come to a truly reflective and equitable accounting in policing
contracts.
As Sheriff Barry told Green City Council in December, “There are nine law enforcement
agencies in this county whose population in area is way less by thousands of people – anywhere
from 500 to 2,000 clear down to 3,628 people for their entire village – that paid more in 2016
than the City of Green paid the Sheriff’s Office.” Even with economies of scale going for it, we
find it hard to believe that the Sheriff’s Office can do that without operationally robbing Peter to
protect Paul.

13

 Recommendations

FINANCE
Recommendation: Explore additional Community Corrections Alternatives.
Presently the Sheriff’s Office has fifteen (15) Deputies assigned to the Glenwood Jail, a nonviolent minimum-security facility run by Oriana House. These Deputies are paid from the
County’s General Fund. The average cost of a Deputy with 5 years plus experience is about
($80,000.00) thousand dollars per year. This is at a cost to the General fund and the Sheriff’s
budget of $1.2 million dollars per year. That is the minimum cost of providing security to this
community corrections facility.
Consideration should be taken, and the idea explored by the Sheriff and the County to shift those
fifteen (15) Deputies back to the Summit County Jail. The Sheriff could use those additional
Deputies to provide security for the initiation of certain inmate programs that have been lost by
budget deficits, and for additional security for other programs. This would in turn help to reduce
the stress caused by the lack of programming and the long hours of lockdown time for both
prisoners and deputies.
As a consideration for security replacement for these Deputies presently assigned to the
Glenwood Jail, the Sheriff and Oriana House should explore using Corrections officers and new
technology to secure this minimum-security facility. This would include exploring contracting
with an established Security Company or hiring through either the County or Oriana House. The
cost for the use of these officers would be much less than the cost of a Deputy. Combining the
use of other security alternatives with technology, such as personal real-time monitoring systems
and a camera monitoring kiosk system could provide the type of minimum security and
protection which may be less costly and more appropriate for this type of facility. The savings
from a system that is less manpower oriented, along with cheaper labor costs, could allow the
Sheriff to transfer the present manpower to a use that could help alleviate some of the staffing
shortage at the Summit County Jail.
Recommendation: Ensure that every contract patrol function and employee is paid for by
those who contract for police patrol services.
Police contract patrol is not a mandatory function; therefore, the County needs to ensure that
costs being charged to the communities accurately reflect the service being provided. The
Sheriff’s Office should work in conjunction with the Summit County Finance and Budget Office
to identify and assess all contract community services provided to establish a full and complete
service charge. To do otherwise is unjust and unfair to the rest of Summit County and could
ultimately result in subsidizing police patrol in contract communities diverting much needed
funds from being used at the understaffed Jail; which is a mandatory statutory responsibility.
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 Recommendation: Use full-time and part-time corrections officers instead of all full-time
deputies
Presently, the Sheriff’s Office employs only full-time sworn Ohio Peace Officer Training
commissioned individuals as deputy sheriffs. They have full arrest powers, may carry guns and
are trained in many areas during a minimum 711-hour training academy. Alternately, the training
for corrections officers is a mandated minimum of 145 hours and stays pertinent and on task to
the main statutory requirements of the Sheriff’s Office.
Summit County is unusual in Ohio as 86 of 88 counties use some form of corrections officers or
corrections non-sworn deputies to carry out their responsibilities. One primary reason is the cost.
Comparing the most current labor contracts on the State Employees Relation Board (SERB)
website revealed that corrections officers earn less than sworn deputies. The rate listed (except
for Summit County) is for the top corrections/non-sworn officer rate:
County

Population

5 year/top rate

Cuyahoga

1,266,049

$22.00

Hamilton

802,516

$24.00

Summit

541,106

$28.71

Montgomery 536,270

$23.06

Lucas

437,201

$24.56

Stark

375,105

$23.11

Medina

173,725

$25.69

Additionally, employer contributions to the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System
(OPERS) for Sworn Personnel (deputies) is 18.10% while for non-sworn personnel (corrections
officers) it is 14%.
But the reasons to use corrections officers versus sworn deputies for jail duties goes far beyond
the significant cost savings in training, salaries and pension contributions. The current statutory
prerequisites for deputies prevents individuals who are interested in criminal justice employment
but who do not want or desire to be fully sworn law enforcement officer, from obtaining
employment in the jail. There are distinct differences in the job positions and responsibilities.
This is reflected in their initial training. The employment pool would be broadened with capable
and willing individuals who would like to serve their community as corrections officers in either
full or part-time capacities. The Sheriff reports to grand jurors how hard it is now to find
qualified individuals. What an excellent time to implement a hiring practice that would allow the

15

 Sheriff to fill positions he states he badly needs and would more accurately reflect the
community that he serves as well.
Implementing this practice would enable the County to more broadly hire qualified individuals.
It makes the staffing plan stronger with more potential openings for those of different gender,
race, color, national origin or religion that are not as historically represented in law enforcement
and corrections.
The Sheriff’s Office currently holds a joint police officer training academy (18 weeks) with the
University of Akron and could do the same with a basic corrections academy (4 weeks). The
hurdles for hiring and training corrections officers are not as high as for sworn deputies. The
FOP/OLC Deputy labor unit has fluctuated with membership over the years due to layoffs during
periods of economic downturn and would now have a buffer between them and layoffs with the
inclusion of corrections officers. The corrections officers would be permitted to organize and be
their own labor unit. Corrections officers who have gained experience and would like to take the
next step to be a deputy could be afforded the opportunity to do so while their work ethic and
capabilities would already be known. The goal is to build up the jail staff to be able to operate
that number one (statutory) priority, the Summit County Jail, operating safely at full capacity;
effectively and efficiently. It is a cultural change recommendation and one that we feel should
be adopted and implemented.
Recommendation: Implement a network of cameras throughout the Jail with the goal of
increasing deputy and inmate safety and enabling the deputies to more effectively operate in
“remote” status, thus reducing the amount of overtime.
Recommendation: Implement scheduling software to replace the Excel spreadsheets that are
currently in use which would provide for better tracking of training time, plus vacations and
extended leaves and would also enable the Sheriff’s Office staff to mine the data to accurately
track the impact (if any) of special units (i.e. crash team, SWAT, bomb squad, etc) on jail
staffing. Additionally, if an alternate shift plan is implemented (e.g. 12 hour shifts or a mix of
12-10-8) this software would enable an analysis whether savings of any kind were generated.

16

 USE OF FORCE & JAIL CONDITIONS
The Use of Force & Jail Conditions Subcommittee attended a review at the Summit County
Sheriff’s Training Center, on the Sheriff's Office Use of Force Policy and training
procedures. The Subcommittee was provided statistics on use of force incidents at the Jail, and
statistics on inmate disruptive and violent behavior, going back at least a decade. While these
statistics do reflect an increase in disruptive and violent inmate (i.e. inmate on inmate assaults)
behavior, a corresponding linear increase in use of force was not observed.
The Subcommittee has reflected on the presentations of service providers, materials, and
statistics provided to the committee of the whole and the subcommittee. While the terminology,
“use of force”, indeed the application of force, is never a pleasant action to view, the application
is necessary to the safe operation of the Summit County Jail. Without the ability to apply safe,
effective and constitutionally permissible Uses of Force, the security of the Summit County Jail
could not be maintained.
It is important to note that the Use of Force Policy employed by the Summit County Sheriff’s
Office conforms to United States Supreme Court case law, the constitutions of the United States
and Ohio, and Bureau of Detention Minimum Standards for Full Service Jails. Based on the
presentation by the Summit County Sheriff’s Office Training Bureau, and its review of the
provided materials, the Use of Force & Jail Conditions Subcommittee believes the Use of Force
Policy provides the deputy staff an adequate and legal foundation from which to operate the
Summit County Jail safely.
The Summit County Sheriff's Office suffered through layoffs in late 2009. This resulted in a
reduction of the sworn and non-sworn staff members. The reduction of services to inmates, due
to staff layoffs is still being felt almost a decade later. The staff of the Summit County Sheriff’s
Office should be credited with continued focus in the face of the increased stress on staff and
inmates.
One area of concern was to determine if the reduced staffing has influenced the operations of the
Jail. To effectively assess the current situation at the Jail, the Subcommittee decided to interview
inmates, sheriff deputies and civilian workers.
The Subcommittee is confident that the implementation of the following recommendations will
impact the use of force incidents, reduce tension among the inmate population, and enable the
deputies in the Summit County Jail to perform their statutory duties more effectively.
Based on the interviews and information provided, the Use of Force & Jail Conditions
Subcommittee identified the following recommendations:

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 Recommendation: Continued training for the Summit County Sheriff’s Office staff in Use of
Force and other facets of operations, as it pertains to corrections.
Provide more training for all deputies, medical staff and inmate service workers, i.e. diversity,
self-defense, trauma informed care approaches.
Recommendation: Restoring inmate programming at the Summit County Jail, including, but
not limited to Gym, Library and ecumenical services
Recommendation: More & better communication between all staffing levels.
Wrap around services are best served when all parties understand logistics, needs and provisions
for the day.
Recommendation: Review the current staffing and job descriptions [post orders] at the Jail
and develop realignment of staff to accommodate current inmate population.
All deputies are required to go through the same training and should be able to work any
position. Better alignment between staff and inmates will allow more interaction, thereby easing
some tensions and giving the deputies opportunities to identify potential conflicts and act to
prevent violent conflicts.
1. Reduce the amount of time inmates spend in lock down.
Units are in lockdown and let out one pod at a time, at times they use a term referred to as
“rolling lockdown”, which is where one pod is allowed time out of the cell. Units 6A and 5D are
the only pods that are not in lockdown continuously since these pods house Trustees working in
the kitchen or laundry
If 15 Deputies are returning to the Crosier Street facility, all pods can be staffed properly. A
suggestion might be, five deputies per unit with one designated as pod control. Pod control is
especially needed on the units that are all double bunked and require more observation of
inmates.
The pod control deputies can transport inmates, thereby eliminating the need periodically to
lockdown an entire unit or pod
2. Reestablish Medical Transport.
With the return of the 15 additional staff, the Medical Transport can be re-established and 2
people at all times can be assigned to Central Control. If this were to happen a deputy on the pod
would not have to rely on someone coming from Intake if there is an emergency (fire alarm,
fight, etc).

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 3. Move to standard twelve-hour shifts
There are too many shifts in the Jail. Currently, staffing includes:
•

Security Staff, 4PM midnight, 8AM -4PM, 5:30 AM until 5:30 PM – 5:30AM
until 1:30 PM (CCTV deputies)

•

Trustee Deputies shifts are 6AM-2:00PM, 6AM-6PM, 6PM-6AM, 8AM-4PM,
3PM-3AM. There are times when no Trustee Deputy is in the building.

•

Intake 6AM-2PM and 7AM-5PM, 2PM-Midnight.

4. Review the Central Control Deputy position to determine whether it should be a bid position
since the person needs to know how to operate the cameras, alarms and know the location of
all of the doors.
Recommendation: Review the staffing of Captains and promotions, which continue under an
already strained budget.
Currently there are some staff members assigned to supervise only 6-7 people. If the supervisory
positions were consolidated, it would allow a highly paid and experienced supervisor to manage
up to 20 people, which would be more cost effective. This would relieve staff to assist with a
changing inmate population more effectively.
Recommendation: Review the due process requirements for disciplinary actions against
inmates.

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 IMPROVING INMATE SERVICES
Improving Inmate Services is made possible by increasing staffing at the Jail, including inmate
service workers, supervisors and deputies. Ultimately the Sheriff and County Executive’s Office
must work to explore how to provide much needed, additional staffing without necessarily
increasing general fund expenditures. Some programs were identified, such as increasing the
inmate phone revenue commission contract, vending machine, and commissary fund would be
used to help offset the cost of paying for inmate service workers with remaining balance to be
paid by General Fund. Considering there are limited resources, there must be an effort to
reallocate resources available to bring back inmate services. The services include use of
recreation at the gym (basketball, volleyball, other physical activities).
Recommendation: Hire additional inmate service workers to support increased services
Recommendation: Reopen the gymnasium to provide scheduled time for inmate use.
Staff with deputies, inmate service workers and Trustees. The deputies will be used for
transporting and supervision of inmates and inmate service workers and trustees will be present
while in areas.
Recommendation: Broaden religious services by providing books and material for people of all
religions and provide appropriate staffing.
Recommendation: Expand the current library to serve as a Resource Room.
•

•

Expand the library into a Resource Room within the Jail to provide for reentry services
and adult education programming which include computer literacy classes, voter
registration, obtaining health insurance and benefits, job searching/resume training,
obtaining GED, health and nutrition classes. The Resource Room would bring in reentry
services, healthcare services, and family services that would not otherwise be offered in a
traditional library environment.
Replace books with computers in library/resource room. This will allow inmates to apply
for benefits before they leave jail. The Summit County Department of Job and Family
Services is moving to a new system of computers called Thin Clients, the Sheriff’s Office
could use those old computers.

Recommendation: Explore more efficient use of current corrections facilities and resources.
Through the re-designation of the Glenwood Jail as the Community Alternative Sentencing
Centers (CASC), the deputies used at Glenwood Jail would be moved back to the Summit
County Jail which would increase staffing and inevitably bring back inmate services. In addition,
it would provide a more flexible use of the current bed space available at the Glenwood facility.
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 Recommendation: Improving Reentry Services, including employing a full-time, dedicated
coordinator.
• Provide information packet/PowerPoint for available services to help with reentry.
• Identify groups within the community who could help with reentry service i.e. clergy
groups, NAACP, JFS, Project Learn, Front Porch etc.
Recommendation: Reinstitute services like Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous, etc.
Recommendation: Install cameras in main areas of the Jail, gym, library, hallways,
resource/library room
Eliminate all blind spots at the Jail, including:
• Outdoor
• Indoor cameras, second floor with recording (video recording server), audio functions,
microphone
• Indoor cameras, in main areas, gym, loading docks area, medical room, lobby, laundry,
kitchen
• Second floor: inmate accounts, and admin halls
• Third floor: vending
• Hallway cameras, in all hallways and near housing units

Recommendation: Increase focus on mental health services and work with the Summit County
Criminal Justice and Mental Health Forum to develop a plan for high utilizers
1. Support and work on universal release of information-gives people permission to share
private health information exception to HIPPA Laws.
2. Provide additional mental health beds at the Jail
Currently there are 24 cells for male inmates and 3 for female inmates who have mental health
illnesses. At any given time there are 150 people who are in the behavioral health system
[identified by Summit Psychological Associates]. There must be more beds made available.
Historically, there were 48 cells available, however that number has decreased to only 24. If
there were more cells made available for those with mental health concerns the staff could take
better suicide precautions and decrease the risk of suicides in jail by inmates. The
recommendation is the Jail revert back to 48 cells reserved for those with mental health concerns.

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 3. Increase staffing on Mental Health Unit
4. Technology Improvements for Mental Health records software
There are significant problems in the software [Correct Tech] that must be updated. The software
is not easy to use and impractical. This would improve response time of mental health workers
and it would translate to them spending more time with the inmates.
5. Improve mental health service access to inmates
• Increase mental health staff access by providing additional deputies necessary for
supervision. If the Jail was staffed with more deputies, workers could provide more
meetings a day increasing availability from 3-2 hour blocks to 5-2 hour blocks
• Create separate rooms for individual meetings with inmates and staff/counselors. Large
open spaces where counselors talk to inmates are less private and not conducive to
counselor and inmate meetings. Also, if there were more rooms dedicated to
inmate/counselors, the counselors could see more inmates during the day.

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