The Summit County Jail has received a perfect compliance score on its annual state inspection for the second year in a row, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. The Oct. 20 review by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction found the Akron jail met all 199 standards in the Ohio Revised Code.
The standards cover security, housing, sanitation, food, recreation, programming, inmate discipline, staff training and health services, according to the jail inspection report, which the Beacon Journal received from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. “During the inspection, the jail demonstrated a consistent level of professionalism and presented the facility as safe, sanitary, and secure in accordance with applicable standards,” the report stated, according to the Beacon Journal. “The information provided by staff was organized, timely, and responsive to inspection requirements, reflecting an understanding of operational expectations and compliance obligations.”
“Based on the historical records kept by the Sheriff’s Office and the ODRC, this is the first time the Summit County Jail has achieved a perfect score in two consecutive years,” Chief of Corrections Tim Miller said in a Summit County Sheriff’s Office news release reported by the Beacon Journal.
The jail, which opened in 1990, has a capacity of 791 inmates. On Oct. 20, the day of the inspection, it held 596 inmates, according to the report cited by the Beacon Journal.
“I can’t say enough about the quality and character of the men and women working in our jail today,” Summit County Sheriff Kandy Fatheree said in the news release reported by the Beacon Journal. “Their professionalism, hard work, and dedication are what make results like this possible. We’re moving in the right direction, and I couldn’t be prouder of the team.”
The perfect score comes months after the jail broke ground on a multi-million-dollar expansion to improve its intake areas, with a focus on medical assessments and efficiency, the Beacon Journal reported. The project is being funded with a $2.9 million grant from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and $984,000 from Summit County.
The annual inspection is the state’s formal check on how Ohio’s jails meet the standards written into state law, and a second straight perfect review gives the Sheriff’s Office a clean record to point to as the intake expansion moves forward.