The Jail Division is charged with the safe and secure operation of the Stark County Jail. The division is staffed by individuals serving is several different capacities such as Deputy Sheriff's, Corrections Officers, Drug & Alcohol Counselors, Clerks, and Supervisors. In addition, contract service employees for food, medical and mental health needs also make up the division as well as volunteers. These persons ensure the security of the jail and provide the wide array of services to the prisoners that are required by state and federal laws. Some of the services are counseling, visitation, religious, commissary sales and library.
The Stark County Sheriff’s Office has taken an aggressive lead in contracting many of these services to private companies in the community that once were performed by Sheriff's Office employees. This concept has been proven cost effective and allots our limited time and resources to be devoted to the core mission of the Sheriff’s Office.
Prisoners confined in the jail include those charged with every type of criminal offense from traffic charges to those facing capital punishment. This includes prisoners awaiting trial or sentencing, transfer to a state institution, fugitives awaiting return to other states, and those inmates awaiting probation or parole revocations. Also confined in the jail are those persons committed by any of the counties’ three municipal courts, Common Pleas Courts and Domestic Relations Court.
The Stark County Jail is a 24 hour a day booking facility for all law enforcement agencies in Stark County.
The jail operational capacity is 526 inmates. There were 9,848 individuals booked into the Stark County Jail from November 1, 2017 through November 1, 2018. (7332 males and 2,516 females). Persons sentenced to the county jail may remain up to two years. However, the average time spent in the county jail based on bookings was 17 days.
The Stark County received a Certificate of Compliance from the Ohio Department of rehabilitation and Corrections on 11/16/2018 because of meeting the basic requirements of Jail minimum Standards noted in Ohio Administrative Code Section 5120: 1-08 and selected for the 2018 Full Service Annual jail inspection.
Booking
Booking operates around the clock, seven days a week with a staff of security personnel and booking clerks. They are responsible for the booking and releasing of all inmates. The booking clerks obtain all pertinent information from the arresting agency and the offender, which they then record in the Jail's Information Management System. The officers fingerprint and photograph each inmate for identification purposes. Officers classify each inmate for tendency of violence/vulnerability for housing purposes. They also inventory and store each prisoner's personal effects in a sealed package for safekeeping and ensure contraband control by way of the SecurPass Body Scanner and searches in incident to arrest. Officers ensure that before housing an inmate that the inmate showers, is issued jail clothing, a hygiene kit, bedding, and a copy of the jail Rules and Regulations.
Inmate jail programs
Religious Services: Non-denominational Chapel Services and Bible Study classes are provided each week. Bibles and other religious materials are distributed to the inmates upon request. These books are returned when the inmate is released from jail.
AA and NA: Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) are offered weekly to the inmates. These programs are popular with the inmates since it gets them out of their housing unit and they are beneficial in nature to address substance abuse issues. Security background checks are conducted by Inmate Services of the leaders of these groups. Only those inmates who are court ordered and/or classified as non-violent may participate in these jail programs. All programs offered at the jail have a waiting list due to class size limitations.
IARP Program-This is an in-house chemical dependency counseling program for inmates with substance abuse problems. On-site counselors facilitate the groups; provide case management services and aftercare. This program was developed in an effort to control jail overcrowding and to make the most efficient use of a sentenced prisoner’s time in a productive manner. The Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services to provide counseling services certify the program. All counselors in the program are Licensed and/or Certified Chemical Dependency Counselors.
Inmate Visitation
Visitation
Video Visitation- On-Site- NOW BY SCHEDULE ONLY!
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY: ON-SITE VISITATION MUST BE SCHEDULED
All visitors must schedule visitation that occurs at this facility. You must log on to ICSolutions.com and choose an available day & time in which you would like to visit an inmate. Visits must be scheduled 24 hours in advance of intended visiting time due to inmates having court, programs, or other appointments. You will be notified by email if your chosen date/time needs to be rescheduled. You MUST arrive 10 minutes prior to your scheduled visit to register with a valid photo ID.
Our visiting hours are Tuesday through Friday (Excluding Holidays) from 8:00am until 11:00am and 12:00pm until 4:00pm. Any Inmate in the IARP class will have to advise you of the time you can visit with them.
IARP visitation times may vary. You may call inmate visitation at 330-451-1360 to obtain the exact visitation time for an inmate in that program.
Each inmate is permitted one thirty (30) minute visit each week with a limit of two (including minors) visitors per visit. Proper photo identification (not expired) is required to visit an inmate. Minor children must be accompanied by an adult into the visiting room.
Once the visitor enters the room and picks up the phone and the inmate picks up the phone - the visit has taken place for the week. It is essential to understand that if an inmate refuses the visit he/she must tell the housing officer before picking up the phone and starting the visit.
No food, beverages or cell phones are permitted in the visiting room. Proper attire is required to enter the visiting room. The visiting officers have the discretion in determining what proper attire is.
Visitors are only permitted one visit per day. Some exceptions may apply. The visitation stations are available on a first come first serve basis. You may be required to wait for your visit or if you arrive late or close to the registration cut off time, you may not be able to visit at all. We also offer OFFSITE visitation Monday through Friday from 8am until 8pm. You can find out more details, pricing and schedules by visiting www.ICSolutions.com. The OFFSITE visits do NOT count toward the inmates’ one permitted ONSITE visit.
Inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated during ANY visit. You may be temporarily or permanently suspended from visitation and / or criminal charges may be filed if you violate the rules of visitation.
On-Site Visitors are to park in the visitors parking lot and proceed to the building marked "Stark County Jail', located on the east side of the Administration building.
We will be offering an inmate EMAIL system soon to provide easier contact with family and friends.
BUS schedule
The SARTA Bus (#111 Maple Bus) will depart from the Stark County Jail every Monday through Saturday from 0602 until 2102.
Sex and Arson Offenders
Sex and Arson offenders are registered through the ID Bureau. A registration may consist of fingerprints, photographs, and a Duty to Register Form being completed. Offenders are registered in the Offender Watch system which is networked throughout Ohio with the 88 County Sheriff’s Offices, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) and the Bureau of Investigation and Identification (BCI&I).
Any person required to register as a sex offender must notify the Sheriff's Office every time they change their address or employment within the county or are going to move out of the county.
The number of registered sex offenders in Stark County for 2018 were 700 and the number of registrations were 1,742.
For the Arson offenders they must register once a year with the Sheriff’s Office in their county of residence. In 2018, we have registered 55 arson offenders.
CERT (Correctional Emergency Response Team)
A Correctional Emergency Response Team utilizes correctional officers and deputies assigned to the jail security force. These officers are assigned to each shift and respond to all planned use of force situations, which may involve, cell extractions, fights and any disorders within the jail. They all have assigned positions and specialized equipment to handle these incidents.
Inmate Worker Coordinators
There are officers assigned to supervise and coordinate inmate workers. The Sheriff's Office utilizes 52 inmates as workers, 48 males and 4 females. Inmate workers are prisoners that have volunteered to work in different capacities based upon their abilities and security risk they pose. It is estimated that the labor savings that these inmates provide Stark County is over one million dollars each year.
The jobs the inmates do are as follows:
- Scrub Gang: Inmate workers clean on a daily schedule the floors, walls, bars, windows, heating ducts, vents and lights in the jail. They also deliver and pass cleaning supplies into the inmate housing units, such things as buckets, mops, brooms and rags.
- Maintenance: These workers assist our maintenance personnel as helpers and provide total grounds keeping services. For example, mowing, trimming and painting.
- Front: Two male inmate workers that keep the front offices, restrooms, lobby, classroom, locker rooms, patrol & radio rooms, as well as the Emergency Management Agency.
- Kitchen: An AM shift and a PM shift assist kitchen contract workers with food preparation, serving of meals to inmate housing and washing of trays. They are responsible for putting away supplies from deliveries and the cleanliness of the kitchen, storeroom, and the dock area.
- Laundry: Inmate workers are responsible for washing and drying of all inmate jail uniforms, the personal clothing of prisoners, linens, and the cleaning of mattresses.
- Litter Detail: Litter Detail - in 2000 the Stark County Sheriff's Office, in conjunction with the Ohio Department of Transportation, started a program utilizing inmates to pick up litter along designated state routes within Stark County. This program has expanded to several crews and the participation of the Stark Waste Management District. The deputies working this assignment are paid by these agencies and Stark County is reimbursed for the use of the vehicles. No General Fund monies are expended on this very successful program.
Food Service
A Contract service is responsible for serving, training, and maintaining the kitchen. They work with twenty-four inmate workers that help to prepare and deliver the meals to the housing areas. A four-week cycle of menus is used and has been approved by a registered dietitian, which ensures that each inmate receives an average of 2,700 to 3,200 calories per day.
In a year’s time approximately 15,000 pounds of ground meat, 7,000 pounds of turkey bologna, and over 1,000 gallons of pudding are used for these meals. The kitchen is inspected twice annually by the Canton Health Department to ensure compliance with Ohio's Food Service Laws.
Medical & Mental Health Department
A contract Service offers the 24/7 medical and mental health services at the Stark County Jail. The Medical and Mental Health contractor provides 24-hour on-site nursing services and provides week day physician coverage, with phone availability 24-hours per day. A dentist also provides services once per week. The medical provider coordinates all services such as radiology, laboratory and pharmacy.