LISBON — Columbiana County Commissioner Roy Paparodis said Howells & Baird is nearly finished with final plans for the minimum security jail renovations, with the project expected to go to bid soon.

Both Paparodis and Commissioner Mike Halleck said the project is going forward, especially now that the county has been awarded $462,500 in matching funds from the Ohio Jail Safety and Security Program.

Last August, the commissioners authorized Paparodis to sign the contract documents with Howells & Baird, an engineering firm from Salem, for the final design drawings and bid phase services at a cost of $25,000.

Paparodis said the goal was to create more room at the jail.

Halleck explained that this is actually Phase 2 of renovations for the structure known as the former misdemeanant facility on the jail property. Part of the minimum security jail was renovated in 2021, now it’s time to do the other half.

The minimum security jail hasn’t housed prisoners since that first half construction project.

The minimum security jail located on County Home Road first opened in July 1994 after the former county home medical building was renovated into a lockup facility. The full-service county jail was constructed next to the minimum security jail and opened a few years later when the commissioners privatized the operations starting Jan. 1, 1998.

The three pods in the county jail are divided, with serious male offenders in one, less serious male offenders in one and then females in the other one. Halleck said each one is overpopulated.

“This will address the overpopulation,” he said.

Plans call for the renovated space to be used to house minimum security prisoners.

The project was originally estimated at close to $1 million. The grant award will pay half the cost, with the rest coming from the county’s American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday that approximately $50 million in funding from the Ohio Jail Safety and Security Program was being awarded to 11 county jail projects, including six construction and/or renovation projects with the Columbiana County jail among those projects.

“It’s critical that our jails are safe and secure, but it’s also important that our jail environments can influence positive change and put inmates on a good path upon release,” DeWine said in a press release. “With this funding, we’re helping these local jails move forward with projects that will allow them to better meet the demands of our modern criminal justice system and further support the growing number of inmates struggling with substance use and mental health issues.”

DeWine worked in partnership with the Ohio General Assembly to secure funding for the Ohio Jail Safety and Security Grant Program as part of the current capital budget. The program is administered through the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s Bureau of Adult Detention.

The County Commissioners Association of Ohio also offered thanks to the governor for supporting the counties.

“Ensuring public safety is one of the most important services that counties provide,”CCAO President and Henry County Commissioner Glenn Miller said in a press release, adding “the robust partnership with state leaders to keep county jails well-funded to make needed improvements to address the complex needs that jail populations have is vital to the provision of that service. CCAO expresses deep thanks to the administration and the General Assembly for their support in keeping the public safe and ensuring that justice-involved individuals are kept in humane environments and receive mental health and addiction services that they may need.”

mgreier@mojonews.com