OTTAWA COUNTY, Ohio — A man arrested last week was never lodged in jail because of a lack of personnel at the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office.
"Toledo police came across a subject who had a warrant through our county, our dispatch was contacted who then contacted our corrections division, and it just happened that we had no certified deputies to be able to go and pick that subject up at that time," said Captain Kent Davis, the jail administrator at the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office.
It was then requested the man be held at the Lucas County Jail until a deputy could pick him up. But according to a Toledo police report, he could not be booked in Lucas County because it's an adjacent county.
Ultimately, the man was released from custody. He was wanted on a lower level felony and not a violent crime.
The incident happened June 11.
"Anytime an inmate gets released that shouldn't have been and should be in jail, especially when it's a warrant that's put out by a judge, it's a difficult pill to swallow," Ottawa County Sheriff Stephen Levorchick said.
Sheriff Levorchick says suspects being released isn't a regular occurrence, but it can happen depending on the crime. The sheriff says it boils down to a staffing problem in jails, especially certified deputies.
Captain Davis says they only have about half the staff necessary.
"They are corrections certified and they can work in the jails," he said. "But because they are not law enforcement certified, they cannot get in a cruiser, they cant put a gun on and do a transport, or any kind of court security or anything like that."
Other sheriff's departments are feeling the struggle too with jail staffing.
"No one wants to be a cop anymore, and I'm just being brutally honest," Sheriff Levorchick said. "It's really tough to recruit law enforcement. If it were easy, the governor wouldn't have thrown money at law enforcement in the state of Ohio for recruitment and retention."
The Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio sent WTOL 11 this statement:
"Staffing shortages for correctional officers continue to be a nationwide issue and CCNO is no exception. The CCNO board understands this issue and has offered double time for any overtime worked. This has done two things for us: 1. It helps us retain our security staff who have several years of service, and acts as an incentive for those who help during staffing shortages, and 2. It's an additional recruitment tool knowing that overtime is paid at double rate. We are continuously looking to onboard new staff. Fortunately, we've been able to close one of our units which reduces staffing needs. We have noticed in recent months that we are seeing more interest in the job and that makes us optimistic that things are turning in the right direction."
Prison employees can do transports and have training to carry guns, but Captain Davis says that doesn't happen at the county level. He proposed deputies in the jail be able to have the ability to carry a gun and do transports, but not have full police powers to go out and patrol.
Captain Davis says there are plans in the works for a bill to be created at the state level to try and address those issues.
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