Wayne Community Corrections Board approves a three-year plan with jail renovation goals

WOOSTER – Over a year in the making, the Wayne County Community Corrections Board approved its three-year strategic plan on Monday, Dec. 6.

It outlines goals for criminal justice agencies to work more closely together while prioritizing next steps for the county jail renovation and expansion.

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"When we started looking at the strategic plan last year, we saw that each agency had its own separate goal it filled," said Capt. James Richards of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office.

Richards and the board hopes to bring these agencies and the Wayne County justice system together to expand and deliver services more efficiently.

To do this, the board interviewed and surveyed stakeholders and held a community meeting in September. With that information, the corrections board created a three-year plan and six goals for the first year.

Richards presented the plan at the Wayne County Community Corrections Board on Monday.

Three-year plan with 2022 goals

The three-year plan is made up of six loosely connected goals. At least two co-leaders will head each goal and must complete certain tasks each year.

These co-leaders were chosen from the social service, legal and criminal justice agencies of Wayne County, Richards said.

The first goal aims to reduce recidivism rates, expand reentry services and increase alternatives to incarceration.

To do this, the co-leaders must identify best practices, find the necessary space, times and staff for each program. They will also monitor progress by submitting quarterly reports.

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Before 2023 begins, the co-leaders will prepare priority services with implementation dates.

The second goal is ongoing and is the furthest along, said Richards, co-leader of this goal. He will continue exploring options with his co-leader, County Commissioner Ron Amstutz, for expanding the Wayne County Jail and communicating these options with county residents.

Improved training, communications and coordination among the county's public and private criminal justice agencies is the third goal.

The fourth goal will inform and aid the county's agencies in this strategic plan by developing system-wide data collection, reporting and evaluation, Richards said.

While most of these goals look inward at the criminal justice system and its agencies, goal five looks to bridge the communication gap with the public, he said.

Goal six asks co-leaders to expand and strengthen prevention services in the county.

Wayne County Jail expansion exploring its options

Among the chief concerns of the strategic plan is the Wayne County Jail renovation and expansion.

The original plan would have seen a renovated jail with an attached expansion, but the county is considering other options nearly two years after the plan was announced.

The planned expansion from 2019 would have provided more space to house a new intake and release center, medical and mental health beds and maximum-security beds. It had a price tag of nearly $24 million at the time, according to a Daily Record report in 2019.

Once the pandemic hit in 2020, the county and jail shelved the project to focus on problems related to COVID-19.

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Now, the county is revisiting the project and has asked Strollo Architects to consider more cost-effective alternatives that could result in a different plan.

This decision came after the City of Wooster expressed concerns regarding a jail expansion during a public forum in September.

"Jonathan [Millea] and I recommended eight different sites for this expansion," said Mayor Bob Brenneman at the Monday board meeting. "Some of which are owned by the county."

The architecture firm will consider different locations for the expansion and measure each cost, said Ron Amstutz, Wayne County commissioner.

"We will get these numbers and decide on a path," Amstutz said. "We are planning to hold a meeting in January where we hope to talk more about this."

This cost analysis will compare different options for the county that would allow for more beds for a larger jail population, more room for mental health and rehabilitation services and drug addiction treatment.

While the cost of a new plan is unknown, Amstutz said the county should know by the end of this year or the beginning of 2022.

To pay for the renovation, the county increased the real property transfer tax by 20 cents to 40 cents for every $100. Commissioners estimate that this tax annually produces $800,000 and project the increase would nearly double this amount.

The county also approved an application for a $30.2 million grant from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections in June.

Commissioners reassure downtown businesses

Downtown businesses represented by Main Street Wooster Executive Director Shannon Waller were worried that the expansion might result in more crimes like vandalism.

Waller said that most businesses with these concerns are on the outskirts of downtown Wooster and have semi-regular vandalism activity on their properties.

"I had an in-depth conversation with the commissioners who reassured me that an expansion would not increase that activity," she said.

County commissioners told Waller that the expansion would process individuals into the jail more quickly.

"The way I understand it, they will have the room to get them in and help get them off the streets," she said.

While she appreciated this conversation, Waller would like to see more data on how such an expansion would affect the downtown community.

"One idea is to potentially pitch the idea to the College of Wooster's [Applied Methods and Research Experience], which studies socio-economic topics in the community like homelessness," Waller said.

Reach Bryce by email at bbuyakie@gannett.com

On Twitter: @Bryce_Buyakie

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Wayne Community Corrections Board approves a three-year plan