Thursday, March 11, 1999
Where to build jail? How about 100 miles away?
BY PATRICK CROWLEY and CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — A plan being floated to house Kenton County prisoners at a proposed jail more than 100 miles away is “hypothetical” and “borders on impossible,” Judge-executive Dick Murgatroyd said Wednesday.
Kenton County needs to build a county jail, but each time a site is proposed, residents living nearby mount fierce opposition to the plan. A proposed site at the intersection of Interstate 275 and the 3L Highway is currently being battled by residents in Edgewood.
Deputy county jailer Bill Schilling has begun exploring housing Kenton County prisoners at a $20 million regional jail officials in Lewis County, about 100 miles east of Covington along the Ohio River, have proposed building with federal money.
Mr. Murgatroyd said the plan has not gone beyond hypothetical discussions.
“I learned a long time ago that nothing is impossible,” Mr. Murgatroyd said Wednesday. “But the idea of Kenton County building and operating a jail facility in Lewis County ... borders on impossible. Transportation costs and management issues are among the chief obstacles to making a project like this a success.”
Kenton County Jailer Terry Carl said he was doubtful such an arrangement would work, largely because of the time and expense involved in transporting inmates to Lewis County.
“That would cost us a ton of money,” Mr. Carl said. “It costs us $25 a day any time we house (an adult prisoner) out of county. And that's not counting the transportation costs, and the four hours or so that our deputies would be out of the county.”
Mr. Carl said the only way he could see the arrangement working would be if the Lewis County Jail became a “post adjudication center” for Kenton County prisoners facing sentences of six months to a year.
“I think our county (officials) are just trying to look at every option they can, because they're meeting so much opposition in Kenton County over (possible) jail sites,” Mr. Carl said.
Sheriff Chuck Korzenborn's deputies are responsible for transporting prisoners from court to jail, whether it's the Kenton County Jail or another facility. Almost daily, they travel to pick up inmates who need to come to Covington to court.
Last week alone, they made 21 round-trip transports, by car, to as far as Mason County. Each trip costs an average of $100 in deputies' salary, gas and other costs. Some trips can be billed to the state, but not most.
The sheriff said he would do the increased transports a Lewis County jail would entail — but he would need more deputies and more funding to do it.
“I'm glad to do it,” he said. “It's what I'm here for. But I need the resources.”
Kenton County Commissioner Adam Koenig said the fiscal court, which will ultimately decide where to build the jail, admits the plan would be difficult to achieve.
“For this to happen (in Lewis County), all the stars would have to be aligned just right,” Mr. Koenig said. “But it deserves to be looked at, like every other option we're presented with.”
Enquirer reporter Jane Prendergast contributed to this story.
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