![The changing face of Ohio's prisons: The makeup of Ohio’s prison population has changed drastically over the last two decades. In the early 1990s, nearly two-thirds of the about 20,000 people sent to state prisons each year were sentenced from the state’s six urban counties: Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Lucas, Montgomery and Summit. Since 2011, more than half of the new inmates are coming from Ohio’s 82 suburban and rural counties. Last year, 57 percent of the 20,112 new inmates came from counties classified as non-urban by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation Correction. (SOURCE: Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction)]()
The changing face of Ohio’s prisons: The makeup of Ohio’s prison population has changed drastically over the last two decades. In the early 1990s, nearly two-thirds of the about 20,000 people sent to state prisons each year were sentenced from the state’s six urban counties: Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Lucas, Montgomery and Summit. Since 2011, more than half of the new inmates are coming from Ohio’s 82 suburban and rural counties. Last year, 57 percent of the 20,112 new inmates came from counties classified as non-urban by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation Correction. (SOURCE: Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction)
Drug crimes are the main cause of a dramatic shift in the number of people being sent to prisons from non-urban versus urban Ohio counties over the past two decades, county officials said.
In the early 1990s, two-thirds of everyone sent to Ohio prisons came from six urban counties — Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Lucas, Montgomery and Summit. Since 2011, more than half of new inmates came from the 82 rural and suburban counties, according to an analysis of two decades of state prison records by The Gazette.
County officials said it’s a complex issue — including factors such as suburban and rural population growth, stricter law enforcement and the weakened economy during the Great Recession. But every county official contacted by The Gazette said drug crime was the chief cause.
“Heroin is a suburban drug in a lot of respects,” said former Common Pleas Judge James L. Kimbler, who retired in January. “It’s hit us hard and it’s something we’re all fighting.”
Common Pleas Judge Christopher J. Collier agreed.
“Something like 85 percent of the crimes in Medina County are drug-related,” Collier said, “even if the crimes don’t explicitly say so.”
Ohio Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation data tell a similar story: Almost 92 percent of inmates in Ohio prisons in 2013 had a history of drug abuse.
According to The Gazette analysis of prison records, the number of people sentenced from urban and non-urban counties reached a crossover point in 2011. The crossover happened five years earlier in cases involving women.
Since 1993, felons sent to prison from Ohio’s urban counties dropped by a third. Over that same period, suburban and rural counties sent 55 percent more people to prison.
And the shift isn’t limited to counties bordering urban counties: The Gazette’s analysis showed the increase in the number of people sent to prison was greater among counties that weren’t adjacent to urban centers. (Click here to see the data about adjacent counties)
Different strike zones
![James L. Kimbler]()
James L. Kimbler
![Christopher J. Collier]()
Christopher J. Collier
Kimbler said the disparity between urban and suburban prison commitments may stem from the different ways communities handle drug crimes. For example, he said, Medina County rarely would send someone to prison for a charge of possession.
But he said urban counties may be even less likely to send nonviolent drug offenders to prison.
“Judges in urban counties see more serious cases, so prison’s not really an option for lesser offenses in those counties,” he said.
Kimbler noted urban counties also have more resources to put nonviolent offenders in treatment facilities instead of prison.
Medina County has no inpatient drug treatment facility of its own, so it’s likely for a repeat offender to return to the same courtroom, Kimbler said. After three or four chances, it’s likely that offender is put in prison.
“To a large extent, the judges who sentence people are going to reflect that county’s values,” he said. “Smaller counties may be more conservative, so they may also be stricter.”
Kimbler explained that Ohio law provides sentencing guidelines but decisions vary based on the judge. An urban judge might be less likely to send a drug offender to prison because he sees so many drug cases. On the other hand, Kimbler said violent crime is more common in urban settings, making nonviolent crime seem less serious to urban judges.
Kimbler used a baseball analogy to describe the phenomenon.
“Every umpire at the beginning of the year gets the same rulebook from the league,” Kimbler said, “but if you talk to the Cleveland Indians, they’ll tell you no two umpires have the same strike zone.”
While he was on the bench, Kimbler said he focused on consistency.
“I was much more concerned that my sentences were aligned with what Judge Collier was doing instead of what was happening in Cleveland,” he said. “I wanted there to be consistency with what was happening in Medina County.”
Kimbler was succeeded last month by his wife, Joyce V. Kimbler, who won election in November.
Collier offered a similar analysis, but explained that drug-related crime isn’t limited to possession and trafficking.
“It’s bigger than that,” Collier said. He explained that crimes such as theft, burglary and robbery are committed to obtain money or resources to trade for drugs.
In those cases, local incarceration sometimes becomes the best option because judges want the criminals off the streets, but they’re not sure prison is appropriate. However, he said it’s not that simple because local jail populations are as overcrowded as state prisons.
“So it’s either put them in prison or let them go,” Collier said, “and we don’t want to let them go.”
Complicating the issue, the Ohio General Assembly has added mandatory prison sentences in certain situations. For example, offenders can receive mandatory sentences for having large amounts of drugs, repeatedly committing violent crimes, possessing or brandishing a weapon while committing a crime.
“We’re sort of the end of the whip, and the Legislature is sort of the hand manipulating the whip,” he said. “Given the option, most judges would prefer to have more discretion in sentencing.”
Shifting populations, drug-fueled crime
![Medina County sending more offenders to state prison: The number of people sentenced to state prison by Medina County judges has increased dramatically since the early 1990s. In the 11 years, 1993 through 2003, the county averaged 111 commitments annually. In the last 11 years, the average has nearly doubled to 212 each year. (SOURCE: Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction)]()
Medina County sending more offenders to state prison: The number of people sentenced to state prison by Medina County judges has increased dramatically since the early 1990s. In the 11 years, 1993 through 2003, the county averaged 111 commitments annually. In the last 11 years, the average has nearly doubled to 212 each year. (SOURCE: Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction) — Click the graph for a larger image.
Collier also suggested that population shifts may have had an effect.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Medina County’s population rose 41 percent from 1990 to 2010. In that same period, the number of people sent to prison from the county rose by about 48 percent.
But the population isn’t simply growing in suburban and rural counties — U.S. Census data shows people have been migrating out of urban counties.
Cuyahoga County’s population dropped more than a quarter from 1970 to 2010, while Medina County’s population more than doubled over the same period.
Veronica Perry, the county’s chief probation officer, said the population shift was probably a major factor in the changing prison population, but stressed the heroin epidemic is the primary reason commitments are rising in suburban and rural areas.
“If you go back and look at how many drug-related crimes in Medina County there were, you’ll find that there probably weren’t as many in the early 1990s,” Perry said. “But I worked in Cleveland back then and in that time we had a huge crack cocaine problem.
“We’re lucky that we didn’t get bombarded in Medina County with one particular drug until heroin. Other places weren’t so lucky.”
Perry said the crack cocaine problem Cuyahoga County had in the 1990s doesn’t compare to today’s heroin epidemic.
“It’s a phenomenon that I’ve never seen in my 26 years in this career,” Perry said. “Heroin does not discriminate. They’re either your sons and daughters, or your neighbor, or someone else you know.”
Medina County Drug Task Force Director Gary Hubbard said the shifting population may have influenced drug dealers to start selling in Medina County and similar communities.
“We have dealers coming into Medina County from urban cities to prey on our residents and give them their supply of drugs,” he said. “People were previously addicted to painkillers, from car accidents or surgery, and heroin provides a similar euphoric feeling.
“The medical issue is no longer present, but their body wants that feeling.”
The problem only worsened during the Great Recession, Hubbard said. The prison data shows the total number of prison commitments reached a record peak in 2007, during the height of the economic recession.
He said his office has cracked down on drug crime, resulting in a dramatic hike in the number of drug-related arrests throughout the county.
According to Medina County court records, prosecutors filed 920 felony cases in 2014 — including violent and nonviolent crimes — as opposed to only 519 two decades earlier.
“Drugs have a tremendous amount to do with nearly every crime around here. People are stealing money to buy drugs and objects like TVs to trade for drugs,” he said. “Many people aren’t always aware that crime is often drug-fueled.”
Incarceration vs. treatment
![The Lorain County Correctional facility in Grafton is one of the most crowded prision facilties in the state. (2006 AP FILE PHOTO)]()
The Lorain County Correctional facility in Grafton is one of the most crowded prison facilities in the state. (2006 AP FILE PHOTO)
Solutions to the problem have been raised, including the state Legislature passing House Bill 86 in 2011— a controversial sentencing reform law that prevents judges from sending first-time felony offenders to prison if the crimes are lesser offenses.
Shakyra Diaz, policy manager for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio in Cleveland, said the reform is on the right track — but more must be done to change the way Ohio’s nonviolent criminals are sentenced.
“It was a good first step, but we need to take some bold steps in Ohio,” Diaz said.
She explained that the situation is dire because Ohio’s prisons are overpopulated. As of Feb. 17, the state had 50,377 inmates in prisons built to house less than 39,000.
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections has said it does not intend to build more prisons, so Diaz said the answer to reducing the population is to address the drug problem.
“The fact is there are limited or no community treatment options in suburban and rural areas. In fact, there’s not even enough in urban communities,” she said. “It shouldn’t matter where you live if you’re struggling with addiction. You should have access to treatment options in your community.”
Without treatment facilities, she said the result is many nonviolent offenders getting convicted of felonies. Even if they’re only sentenced to probation, she said those offenders are unable to become productive members of society because a felony record makes it difficult to obtain higher education or find well-paying jobs.
“Felony convictions are lifetime penalties,” Diaz said. “Someone once told me that it was easier to overcome drug addiction than it was to overcome a felony conviction. He’s been sober for many, many years, but he’s still unable to get a job.”
Other states, like California, have passed sweeping legislation to decriminalize drug addiction, Diaz said. Decriminalization laws allow those charged with low-level drug felonies to have their crimes reduced to misdemeanors.
“It’s preventing people from going to prison in the first place,” Diaz said.
She said sentencing reform should be supported by politicians from all political parties: The drug problem affects everyone, she said, so many arguments in favor of reform are coming from both liberals and conservatives.
“A lot of the arguments in support of reform are coming from both sides,” she said. “They’re saying the ‘war on drugs’ has gone too far, and that we pay much more to incarcerate someone than we do to get them treatment.”
Diaz said treatment is the only effective answer.
“What we’d like to see as a collective community is that everyone is a contributing, tax-paying resident,” she said. “But if these people are unable to get jobs to become productive, aren’t we all losing in the end?”
The Gazette data analysis was done by Managing Editor David Knox.
Contact reporter Nick Glunt at (330) 721-4048 or nglunt@medina-gazette.com. Follow him on Twitter @ngfalcon.
The post Drugs causing rural, suburban Ohio counties to send more to prison than urban counties appeared first on The Medina County Gazette.
