5 Toledo councilmen want Kasich to reduce inmate numbers at TOCI

10/8/2013

Five Toledo councilmen today presented a resolution calling on Gov. John Kasich to order the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to reduce the number of inmates housed at the Toledo Correctional Institution.

The resolution, presented during council's agenda review meeting, also wants additional measures taken to improve the staff turnover rate, which, at 16.5 percent, is the highest in the state.

“The increasing violence at the facility is not acceptable, especially given that the most recent inmate death took place after Governor Kasich and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction staff had received the [Correctional Institution Inspection Committee report],” the resolution states.

The 164-page report from the state oversight board was released in September.

On Monday, Michael Dodson, 38, an inmate at Toledo Correctional, was pronounced dead at Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center after being assaulted by his cellmate on Sunday.

He is the fourth inmate to die after being assaulted at the prison in a little more than one year.

The resolution states that Toledo City Council has a “legitimate concern in the well-being of the security personnel at TOCI as well as the inmates, many of those who work there are residents of the City of Toledo and the inmates are considered residents by the Federal Census.”

Councilmen Lindsay Webb, Paula Hicks-Hudson, Shaun Enright, Tyrone Riley, and Steven Steel co-sponsored the resolution, which could be voted on next week at council's regular meeting.

Ms. Webb said the resolution was prompted by the most recent inmate death at the North Toledo prison.