A notable drop in crime rates has had a financial impact on the budgets of counties served by the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail
By: Noah Cavin
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – Just over a year ago, the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail was so full that people arrested by police were literally turned away at the door due to lack of bed space.
SEORJ takes in inmates from Athens, Hocking, Perry, Morgan and Vinton Counties and has over 240 beds available to house them. But according to Athens County Sheriff Rodney Smith, there aren’t nearly that many inmates anymore.
“Five years ago, we would literally have to call in to make sure there was jail space,” said Smith. “Now that’s not the case. There’s plenty of room at the regional jail.”
The key reason for these empty jail cells? Much lower crime rates.
According to data from the FBI, there were 1,623 crimes committed in 2015 among the five counties – the highest since the FBI began tracking this data in 1986.
As of 2023, that number is down to 863, a drop of 46.8%.
“I came into office in 2014, and we immediately hit the ground running, really trying to focus on crimes and drugs and the effects they have in the communities,” said Smith. “For the last 10 years, it’s worked, and it’s reduced the amount of crimes and taken a burden off the jail space.”
But over in Vinton County, Sheriff Ryan Cain says that there are fewer inmates because of a statewide effort to relieve overcrowded prisons.
Ohio created diversion programs like the Targeted Community Alternatives to Prison, or T-CAP, program to keep non-violent offenders out of state prisons to focus on their rehabilitation in order to reduce prison population while also saving local governments money.
Smith and Cain agree that the cost of running the jail has skyrocketed because there are fewer people going to jail. SEORJ charges each county a per diem rate for each prisoner that they hold.
“Back then, you didn’t pay a lot of money. You paid like $85 a day per inmate,” said Smith. “Now we’re paying $118, which is a substantial raise.”
SEORJ’s rising per diem rate is a direct result of the rising costs of running a jail. Even though there are fewer inmates, the number of employees needs to stay at a level to accommodate an increase. Those employees have to be paid and the counties provide increasingly expensive health insurance for them.
Athens County alone saw a $35,000 increase from May to June in funding SEORJ, according to officials.
Cain has spoken out against the business model of SEORJ in the past, and said that something has got to be done about the per diem rates.
“My concern is that I can find it cheaper at almost the same distance,” said Cain. “We need a solution.”
Other counties have taken their inmates to SEORJ in the past, but this uptick in per diem rates has pushed them away, increasing the financial burden on the SEORJ counties.
“I don’t blame them at all,” said Smith. “I mean, every organization has to do what’s best for them. But we certainly would invite anyone to help us with our revenue at the regional jail to house the inmates there, if they’re closer or if it’s more convenient.”
There are concerns among the SEORJ board that some of the five member counties are not taking their inmates to the jail, according to Adkins.
“Under our bylaws, each county has to bring their inmate to the regional,” said Adkins. “I do believe that some of the counties are not bringing all of their inmates to the regional.”
“I won’t do it,” said Cain. “I know that it’s probably being considered, though, because, I mean, it is a lot of money.”