Support Services
Jail Statistics Appendix
Patrol and Investigation Services
The Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) is the primary and exclusive law enforcement services provider (police agency) responsible for four (3) townships within Mahoning County: Berlin, Canfield, and Ellsworth. The MCSO services these townships and the general geographical areas by utilizing satellite patrol posts at the following locations:
Post 1 - Canfield, Ohio
21 S. Broad Street
Canfield, Ohio 44406
330-702-1542
Post 2 - Ellsworth, Ohio
6036 S. Salem Warren Road
Ellsworth, Ohio 44416
330-538-2219
Cars are equipped with the latest Laser RADAR speed enforcement equipment.
MCSO School Resources Officer (SRO) offers services to the Jackson-Milton School System in all grade levels, including D.A.R.E. programming in the elementary grades.
MCSO School Resources Officer (SRO) offers services to the Western Reserve School System in all grade levels, including D.A.R.E. programming in the elementary grades.
MCSO Sexual Offender Tracking and Registration program mandated by Ohio law ("Megan’s Law"). A complete listing of all registered sex offenders in Mahoning County are listed on this site.
MCSO Domestic Violence Intervention services program.
Adjunct Specialized Police and Investigative Services
MCSO Motorcycle Patrols, consisting of four (4) Harley-Davidson marked police motorcycles, leased at $1.00 each for specialized patrol and traffic enforcement as well as special events
MCSO Volunteer Skindiver Search, Rescue and Recovery Team
MCSO Mobile Command & Communications Van for special operations and critical incidents
MCSO countywide warrant sweeps for fugitives, dead-beat dads, welfare cheats and other offenders, as well as routine apprehension efforts seeking persons on warrants issued by Area County Courts in Austintown, Boardman, Canfield, and Sebring, as well as Mahoning County’s Common Pleas Courts
MCSO uniformed traffic and foot patrols in downtown Youngstown, attending to all county-owned and operated buildings and equipment
MCSO specialized patrols, including drug and criminal activity "sweeps" of targeted areas, not only in Youngstown, but countywide
MCSO Homeland Security efforts by means of additional patrols and surveillance of Berlin Dam and Meander Reservoir during Security Alerts under requests for mutual aid
Contracted Police and Investigative Services
Day Reporting inmate work program providing inmate labor to communities throughout Mahoning County
Court and Security Services
Service of all Probate Court Detention Orders countywide and transportation of such persons to local hospitals for Court Ordered admissions
Service of all Domestic Court Orders countywide including execution of Ex-Parte Orders in divorce or legal separation cases
Perform court ordered real estate appraisals and conduct Sheriff’s sales (auctions) on foreclosed real estate and delinquent tax properties
Execute Enforceable Writs on behalf of all county and Common Pleas Courts in civil matters countywide, such as Writs of Possession, Replevin, Eviction, etc.
Service of all County Grand Jury Indictments including delivery of all subpoenas countywide for Grand Jury witnesses and defendants on bail / bond
Delivery and execution of all Personal and Residential Service of summonses and subpoenas for Mahoning County Common Pleas Courts, including the General Division, Probate, Domestic, and Juvenile Court as well as the Area County Courts in Austintown, Boardman, Canfield, and Sebring, for both Judges and Magistrates
Perform Court Ordered Vehicle Immobilizations for Mahoning County Courts countywide
Provide security for grand jurors, witnesses, and victims during court proceedings in Area County Courts and Common Pleas Courts
Provide security for deliberating jurors sequestered by the Courts
Maintain facility security and responsibility for the Mahoning County Courthouse and the Court of Appeals Courthouse searching persons, property, and packages with metal detection and x-ray equipment entering and exiting the building as well as at the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center
Maintain facility security and responsibility for the Area County Courts in Austintown, Boardman, Canfield, and Sebring searching persons, property, and packages with metal detection equipment during Court proceedings
Transport all criminal defendants in custody at the Mahoning County Jail to all Common Pleas Courts and all Area County Courts in Austintown, Boardman, Canfield, and Sebring for all appearances such as hearings and trials
Maintain security over criminal defendants and prisoners during all Courthouse proceedings at the Mahoning County Courthouse, the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center, and Area County Courts in Austintown, Boardman, Canfield, and Sebring
Arrest and transport to the Mahoning County Jail all convicted defendants ordered by the Common Pleas Court and all Area County Courts into custody at the conclusion of their court appearance
Transport all inmates convicted and sentenced to State Penitentiaries throughout Ohio by Mahoning County Common Pleas Courts
Provide around-the-clock facility security and custody over incarcerated juveniles at the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center as well as in-custody transportation outside the facility
Transport all persons arrested on Area County Court Warrants and Common Pleas Warrants to Mahoning County Jail upon their arrest by local law enforcement agencies in the county and throughout the State of Ohio as well as fugitives arrested outside of Ohio
Serve as the "arm of the court" attending to, and executing Orders of the Court in all civil and criminal proceedings for all Mahoning County Common Pleas Courts, including the General Division, Probate, Domestic, and Juvenile Court as well as the Area County Courts in Austintown, Boardman, Canfield, and Sebring, for both Judges and Magistrates
Equip, maintain, operate and conduct all video-arraignment court proceedings from the Mahoning County Jail for the Youngstown Municipal Court as well as the Area County Court in Boardman, and the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court
Note: Area Courts in Austintown, Canfield and Sebring are poised to go online later this year, while installation of equipment is proceeding with municipal courts in Campbell and Struthers.
State and Federal Grant-funded MCSO Services
Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (S.T.E.P.) for D.U.I. and Speed Enforcement countywide
Seat-Belt and Child Restraint/Safety-Seat Education and Enforcement countywide
D.A.R.E. school programming and School Resource Officer funding in Jackson-Milton and Western Reserve School Systems
Bulletproof vest reimbursement program for Mahoning County Deputy Sheriffs via federal grant dollars.
Corrections Services
The Mahoning County Justice Center (MCJC) houses the Sheriff’s General Headquarters and Jail facility, located at 110 Fifth Avenue in downtown Youngstown. Administrative and Field Operations personnel moved into the facility in November, 1995. Inmates first occupied the MCJC in March 1996. The County received 30% reimbursement from the state for its project costs. The primary mission of the jail is to house all pre-trial detainees who are unable to post bond, as well as incarcerate sentenced offenders. Based on inmate classification levels, violent and non-violent inmates are housed in separate cells and housing areas. Persons awaiting trial for every category of misdemeanor and felony crimes, including drug abuse, domestic violence, and criminal homicide, constitute almost 75% to 80% of the daily population. The remaining population is sentenced offenders ineligible for a minimum security classification.
Adjacent to the MCJC is the Sheriff’s Minimum Security Jail, located at 360 W. Commerce Street. Its state-rated capacity is 96 inmates, and all are sentenced, non-violent offenders. The facility opened in October 1994 and had 60% of its project costs reimbursed by the state. Inmates housed in this facility are often seen in green uniforms outside cutting grass, painting over graffiti, picking up litter, or engaged in facility housekeeping or community improvement efforts countywide.
The need and capacity for these facilities were determined by studies of Mahoning County’s Criminal Justice System, the County’s Corrections Planning Board, elected and appointed Mahoning County officials, and a Federal Court Consent Decree. The Court action was a result of inmate litigation over conditions at the old Boardman Street Jail that opened in 1956.
Apart from its mission of incarceration, rehabilitative programming is provided at both facilities to help reintegrate persons back into their communities. Examples of such programs include:
Commitment to Change Programs, Substance Abuse Education, Stress and Anger Management, Adult Basic Education, Life Skills Programs, Parenting, Alcoholics Anonymous, HIV/AIDS Awareness, Domestic Violence Intervention, Mental Health Counseling, and post release community resource referrals.
Religious services, programming, and spiritual guidance for all denominations is provided to the inmate population, along with participation in alcoholics anonymous support groups, thanks to some 43 volunteers from the community.
Operations at both jails return revenue to the County’s General fund. Commissions are generated from coin-less inmate payphones, and per-diem fees are collected from the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, and the City of Youngstown for housing inmates awaiting trial on federal offenses or municipal ordinances, respectively.
The inmate commissary program is a service where inmates purchase items such as snacks, stamps, stationary, and hygiene products. Profits from this service are used for purchases that directly benefit the inmates such as recreation equipment, TVs, books, etc. No taxpayer dollars are spent. This program returns approximately $6,280 per month in revenue to the revolving commissary fund.
Food Service for the inmates is provided by Canteen Services pursuant to a contract that was competitively bid. Such contracted or privatized services at the jail began in 1994 and all food, supplies, and staffing costs are included in the per meal costs. Meals are cooked from scratch at the Justice Center. This rate is based on a sliding scale depending on actual meals served per day. An excerpt of the scale follows:
1300 meals per day..........$1.03
1400 meals per day..........$1.01
1500 meals per day..........$x.98
Medical Services at the facility were also privatized in April, 1996. The current provider is Prison Health Services (PHS), and the terms of the contract require the contractor to provide comprehensive inmate health care services in compliance with state and national standards. Included are all medications, physicians’ services, testing, hospitalization, risk management, and indemnification, etc.
For calendar year 2001, the average monthly number of inmates on psychiatric medications was 81, reflecting 15.94% of the inmate population. Pre-trial detainees as well as sentenced offenders are being treated for bi-polar disorders, severe depression, schizophrenia, and other mental illnesses.
Inmates are also routinely tested for TB, Venereal Disease, and other communicable diseases if their incarceration exceeds ten days. Inmates who are classified as medically high risk based on intravenous drug use, prostitution or high-risk sexual activity, are also tested for HIV.
AIDS and AIDS related conditions being treated in the jail with medications average 6 inmates, or 1.13% of the monthly population.
Support Services
MCSO had a total of 254 full-time employees as of December 2001. Of these, 244 are sworn law-enforcement officers and 10 are civilians. The department recruited, investigated, and selected 26 new deputies during the calendar year. All were subjected to in-depth background investigations, including drug, psychological, and polygraph testing.
136-hour Basic Corrections Academies are now being conducted at the Justice Center in accordance with Ohio law and the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission. Forty-seven deputies received their training, required within the first year of their employment or assignment to jail duties. Additionally, in-service training classes were conducted over a ten-week period. Deputies received five days of refresher classes while support and contract employees received 16 hours of specialized training in jail-related topics.
MCSO prepared deputies and ranking officers for the State of Ohio to administer its first ever competitive state civil service exams for sergeant, lieutenant, and captain.
MCSO has initiated the process to become nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law-Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA). Since 2001, 123 policies that comply with the national standards have been published and issued to all employees.
MCSO has installed a digital photo mug shot software and hardware system in the Justice Center and currently shares mug shots electronically with the Austintown, Boardman and Youngstown Police departments, along with the local FBI Fugitive and Violent Crimes Task Force. Plans are moving forward to share the electronic photographs and line-up software with all Mahoning County law-enforcement agencies and Courts.
Digital hardware and software is also in use at the Justice Center for the electronic "capture" of fingerprints. A ten-print live scan fingerprint capture station is linked to Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, which transmits all arrestee fingerprints to the FBI National AFIS fingerprint center electronically. The machine automatically "prints" the fingerprints locally on standard cards for manual filing and comparisons, eliminating the need for the inked process.
A countywide Multi-Jurisdictional Global Index Server (MGIS) hardware and software has been purchased and installed for MCSO to be able to link all inmate booking and custody records directly with all Mahoning County law enforcement agencies and Courts. High-speed phone lines have been installed, and plans are being developed to connect a number of sites with wireless links, thereby eliminating the need for reoccurring phone line charges. Once the network is operational, all courts and police agencies within the network will be able to exchange all of their records as part of an interactive criminal justice system. Simultaneously, state and federal grant dollars are being applied to the project while applications are underway seeking additional funding.