Ohio
Ohio House OKs $250 million for local jail construction, renovations; bill heads to Senate
State lawmakers want to earmark $250 million for local jail construction and renovations — an idea that county officials applaud.
If approved, it’ll be a massive surge in state money for local governments. Currently, there are 89 full-service jails across Ohio operated by county sheriffs and local police departments.
County jails need to increase mental health and drug addiction treatment capacity, add beds for incarcerated women and improve safety, according to the County Commissioners Association of Ohio. The association estimates that $2.2 billion is needed to pay for all the needed jail construction work.
Since 2021, the DeWine administration has earmarked $101 million in state money to help counties renovate or replace jails. Several new jails will greatly expand bed capacities. In Gallia County, for example, $5.5 million in state money will help build a 120-bed facility, replacing an 11-bed lockup used since 1964.
So far 23 jails have received state money for jail renovations, expansions or replacements.
House Bill 2, which the Ohio House approved Wednesday, would earmark an additional $100 million for large county jail projects and $150 million for smaller county jail projects. The Ohio Senate will now consider the bill.
Grants would be based on financial need and an assessment of the need for more jail beds or renovations.
Across Ohio, about 19,000 people are incarcerated in jails on any given day. The state prison system holds another 44,600 people.
Jails are not the same as prisons. They are temporary holding facilities for people who are just arrested, awaiting court appearances, held pretrial on bonds or serving short-term sentences.
American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio lobbyist Gary Daniels said while some jails need renovations, a building spree isn’t the right answer.
“The best way to safely reduce jail populations around Ohio is via thoughtful, comprehensive bail reform. Legislators rejected such legislation last session, opting to perpetuate this serious problem. This keeps our jails packed full of people otherwise free to go, but who cannot afford bail,” he said. “Now legislators double down by spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to renovate and construct more jails. This ensures Ohioans will pay even more for our leaders’ stubborn refusal to enact meaningful reform measures.”
Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
A Kentucky woman who had been missing for more than two weeks was found dead in her vehicle in Ohio, authorities said.
The body of Debra Wireman was found in her vehicle on July 3 in Clermont County, Ohio, the Flemingsburg Police Department in Kentucky said on Facebook on Wednesday. Investigators were called to the scene after a report identifying the vehicle as belonging to a missing person, police said. The remains were identified as Wireman’s by the Clermont County Coroner’s Office on July 7, according to law enforcement.
Police in Kentucky said the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio is investigating the woman’s death. No additional information will be released by Flemingsburg police “out of respect for Debra’s family and the integrity of that investigation.”
“While this is not the outcome any of us hoped and prayed for, we are thankful that Debra has been found and that her family can now begin to receive the closure they deserve,” police added on Facebook.
Wireman, according to police, was last seen on June 17 at around 4:30 p.m. in Aberdeen, Ohio, while traveling toward Maysville, Kentucky. She was driving a white 2020 Kia Forte with front-end damage. Police said family and friends were “concerned for her welfare.”
“The overwhelming response from our community, neighboring agencies, the media, and countless individuals across the region demonstrated the very best of people coming together in the hope of bringing someone home safely,” Flemingsburg police said.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Central Ohio has a new option for late-night sweets.
Jeff’s Donuts opened its first Ohio location Wednesday morning at 5717 N. Hamilton Road, between Gahanna and New Albany.
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The shop will be open 24 hours.
Sixteen ‘almost feral’ children. Aged 18 months to 18 years. Hidden from sight in an Ohio house of horrors.
Until now.
It’s a situation difficult to fathom: Investigators found 16 kids living inside a 1,300-square-foot home in Vinton County, Ohio, confined in a 12-by-12 bedroom investigators say was covered in human waste. Gary Siders Jr., Elizabeth Siders, Gary Siders Sr., and Christina Siders were arrested on Tuesday, June 30th, and remain in jail after waiving their preliminary hearings today, Tuesday, July 7th.
Investigative reporter Anne Emerson goes beyond the headlines to understand the human impact in the developing Siders child abuse case. How did children live under these conditions for so long? We wanted to hear from the local community affected by this horrific story.
In this episode of Criminally Obsessed, we hear from those voices – from Captain Jeremiah Griffith who was a first responder to the shocking scene, to local Vinton County Pastor James Dimel who describes the community’s support of children who were trapped in a ‘den of evil’. Law enforcement and locals share their shock at the horror lurking in their own community. And Attorney Thomas Stolly, who represents Elizabeth Siders, says the case is more complicated than many believe, urging the public to remember that his client is presumed innocent.
Today, we react in real time to what we know so far in this developing story, and offer multiple perspectives of those closest to this case.
Subscribe to Criminally Obsessed for continuing coverage of the Siders investigation, true crime updates, courtroom developments, and exclusive interviews with the real people impacted by these cases.
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