Options sought as jail inmates increase

Miami County sees particular rise in female prisoners.

The number of females being charged with heroin-related offenses in Miami County Municipal Court continues to grow, but the rate has slowed, according to a county judge.

Judge Gary Nasal updated Miami County commissioners on the female jail population on Thursday.

Nasal and Tony Blakely, court administrator, met with the commissioners as part of a continuing effort to identify options for dealing with a growing jail population, particularly females.

“Anecdotally, we can say the growth ... has slowed, but there is still growth. I don’t have any idea what the pace of that growth is going to continue to be,” Nasal said.

The county has a jail at the Safety Building in downtown Troy and an Incarceration Facility located between Troy and Piqua for minimum-security offenders. The Incarceration Facility was built with four 60-person pods, but only two of those pods are now open. They hold male prisoners.

Females are housed at the downtown jail, a maximum-security facility whose total population is limited to 48 a day by the state.

Because of the growing number of female inmates, the county since mid-August has had a contract with neighboring Shelby County. The contract allows Miami County to house up to 15 female prisoners a day at $55 per prisoner.

The commissioners are looking at housing options, including continuing to use the Shelby County space or opening a third Incarceration Facility pod dedicated to female prisoners.

“That’s the area we are having the most problems with because of the restrictions from the state,” Commissioner John “Bud” O’Brien said of the focus on the female population.

Nasal said he and Blakely would need more time to provide commissioners statistics on females charged and sentenced to jail time on drug-related offenses or probation violations associated with drugs.

Commissioners agreed to give them two more weeks to collect information.

“We’ll put together what we can. I think it is important for you to have it,” Nasal said.

Estimates for opening a third pod were given to commissioners March 17 by sheriff’s Chief Deputy Dave Duchak and Sgt. Mike Marion. They suggested a discussion with the court representatives.

The estimate to hire four additional correction officers, adding a sergeant and a lieutenant rank, and outfitting and training the new correction officers was around $250,000.

The cost to house females at Shelby County through the end of February was $101,825, or around $300,000 if the current rate of use continues for a year, the commissioners were told.

Commissioners requested additional information on medical costs, transportation to Shelby County and meals.