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Throwing Away 'Throw Away The Key' In Ohio
June 01, 2011 posted by Steve Brownstein
by Jessica Alaimo
Judge Richard Berens knows there are problems with Ohio's corrections system and more needs to be done to help ex-prisoners adjust back into society.
But the Fairfield County Common Pleas judge also thinks the people he sends to prison belong there.
State lawmakers have proposed sweeping reforms to Ohio's corrections system. A comprehensive bill passed the House on a 96-2 vote Wednesday, and it's been the subject of ongoing Senate committee hearings. Gov. John Kasich supports the measure.
While Berens supports the bill's efforts to reduce recidivism and boost rehabilitation, he fears some provisions will tie judges' hands and put more stress on county departments.
The legislation would mean first-time, nonviolent, low-level felony offenders could not be sent to state prison, and instead would get three years probation. The bill also doubles the threshold for felony-level thefts, meaning more would head to the county jail on theft charges.
When sentencing, judges say they already consider alternatives to prison and issue them when they see fit.
"I consider this sentencing law to be an attempt to micromanage the court, which ultimately shifts costs from the state to the local level of incarceration," Berens said.
Coshocton County Municipal Court Judge Tim France said he tries to alleviate overcrowding in the local jail through structuring sentences in different ways and offering alternative sentences.
This includes reduction of total sentence imposed, suspending sentences and placing conditions on the suspension such as paying fines, community service, house arrest and various counseling to hopefully change behavior. France said he tries to do this about 95 percent of the time.
"I give them an opportunity to make up for the wrong they did. It's one thing to throw them in jail, but the county pays for that, the city pays for that, the taxpayers pay for that because they're paying the room and board," France said. "I try to motivate them to make some changes and to motivate them to pay their fines and costs."
Berens is not alone in his concerns. The chairman of a key Senate panel also has reservations, along with several other local leaders.
However, bill sponsor Sen. Bill Seitz, a Hamilton County Republican, said the bill provides county jails with the means to save costs.
Counties can establish Community Alternative Sentencing Centers for offenders sentenced to 30 days or less. These facilities will have less security thus cost less.
However, the legislation doesn't provide funds to counties to construct these facilities. Seitz said funds for these programs will come as the state saves money in the prisons.
"We're not going to pocket all the savings," Seitz said. Instead, the state would "reinvest that on community corrections and strengthening the probation system."
France said he's not sure how such a center would work locally. He said he didn't think the city and county had the money or personnel to establish a center or work with one nearby.
He also said about 80 percent of the defendants he sees request a public defender, meaning they're indigent and can't afford their own attorney. That means they couldn't afford to foot the bill for such alternate housing, either.
"Most people here don't have the ability to pay for something like that. If they set one up, say in Newark, how are they going to get there? Will we be responsible for checking them in at our jail here and then take them there? If our sheriff's department has to take them, that's not going to work. You have to pay a deputy mileage over there, and gas. It's just not feasible to set that up," France said.
A first-time felon still could have a laundry list of misdemeanor convictions plea-bargained down from felony charges, said state Sen. Tim Grendell, R-Chesterland, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee on Criminal Justice.
Without prison as an option, officials said such felons would end up in a county jail.
Most jails already are overcrowded, some with waiting lists and others paying about $100 a day to house inmates elsewhere.
Coshocton County Sheriff Tim Rogers said the Coshocton County Jail does not use a waiting list and has not sent prisoners to other jails for incarceration for about 10 years.
He said the jail can't afford the housing and transportation costs of sending inmates elsewhere. He said locally it costs about $70 a day to house a prisoner, plus medical and transportation costs, if needed.
The county jail has 60 beds, not counting portable cots. The average daily jail roster is in the mid- to upper 50s.
"The sentencing laws are changing. We know that. It's just a matter of time before more inmates are sent to local levels," Rogers said. "The state doesn't want to be in the prison business, and they're trying to get out of it. It's a financial burden on the state, but the county jails are a financial burden on the county."
Rogers said he was anxious to see what form the sentencing changes would take when they ultimately are passed. He said the effect on the local level probably would not be instant, but would take several months to materialize. He did think there will be a new burden on the county jail system.
"I think there's going to be more reliance on local sentencing because prisons aren't going to accept them. If our judge over here feels someone needs to be incarcerated for a drug offense or a case or sentencing issue the state doesn't want to do anymore, he's going to throw them in my jail, and understandably. There has to be consequences to actions," Rogers said.
A judge should be able to use his own discretion, Berens said. "I'm against the Legislature painting with such a broad brush. Each county is different. Judges should decide who goes to prison, not politicians."
Judge John Dewey of the Sandusky County Common Pleas Court agrees.
"I'm a little concerned about where we put them," Dewey said. "A lot of times these people have a track record of 30 to 40 criminal incidents, and probably have worn out their welcome (in the community)."
Most of the offenders the bill targets usually aren't prison-bound anyway, Grendell said.
"A judge knows who's high risk, so the judge should have that authority," he said.
Berens said it is rare a first-time, low-level felony offender goes to prison, but he still wants that option.
The sponsor of the legislation said many of these fears are unfounded; the offenders would not end up in the county jail. Instead, they would go on probation, possibly monitored by a GPS device.
Community control might not always be the answer, Berens said.
"Many of these people have already been to the county jail," he said. "For some, this is going to be another ride on the revolving door."
Another controversial provision in the bill increases the threshold for a felony level theft to $1,000. Under current law, any theft valued at more than $500 would send an offender to prison on a felony charge.
France knows raises have been done in the past based on inflation, but thinks the current suggestion is in order to decrease the number of felonies. France thinks the sentencing changes will increase his caseload, but not to a level his court can't handle. He's projecting about 10 to 15 extra cases per year.
"If you reduce the number of felonies, you reduce the felony population and less people in prison. Number one, I don't know if it will truly have that effect. The main effect here will probably be an increase in the number of theft cases, where before they would have been in felony court," France said.
