Section 307.93. Joint establishment of a multicounty correctional center

(A) The boards of county commissioners of two or more adjacent counties may contract for the joint establishment of a multicounty correctional center, and the board of county commissioners of a county or the boards of two or more counties may contract with any municipal corporation or municipal corporations located in that county or those counties for the joint establishment of a municipal-county or multicounty-municipal correctional center. The center shall augment county and, where applicable, municipal jail programs and facilities by providing custody and rehabilitative programs for those persons under the charge of the sheriff of any of the contracting counties or of the officer or officers of the contracting municipal corporation or municipal corporations having charge of persons incarcerated in the municipal jail, workhouse, or other correctional facility who, in the opinion of the sentencing court, need programs of custody and rehabilitation not available at the county or municipal jail and by providing custody and rehabilitative programs in accordance with division (C) of this section, if applicable. The contract may include, but need not be limited to, provisions regarding the acquisition, construction, maintenance, repair, termination of operations, and administration of the center. The contract shall prescribe the manner of funding of, and debt assumption for, the center and the standards and procedures to be followed in the operation of the center. Except as provided in division (H) of this section, the contracting counties and municipal corporations shall form a corrections commission to oversee the administration of the center. Members of the commission shall consist of the sheriff of each participating county, a member of the board of county commissioners of each participating county, the chief of police of each participating municipal corporation, and the mayor or city manager of each participating municipal corporation. Any of the foregoing officers may appoint a designee to serve in the officer's place on the corrections commission. The standards and procedures shall be formulated and agreed to by the commission and may be amended at any time during the life of the contract by agreement of the parties to the contract upon the advice of the commission. The standards and procedures formulated by the commission shall include, but need not be limited to, designation of the person in charge of the center, designation of a fiscal agent, the categories of employees to be employed at the center, the appointing authority of the center, and the standards of treatment and security to be maintained at the center. The person in charge of, and all persons employed to work at, the center shall have all the powers of police officers that are necessary for the proper performance of the duties relating to their positions at the center.

(B)

(1) Upon the establishment of a corrections commission under division (A) of this section, the judges specified in this division shall form a judicial advisory board for the purpose of making recommendations to the corrections commission on issues of bed allocation, expansion of the center that the corrections commission oversees, and other issues concerning the administration of sentences or any other matter determined to be appropriate by the board. The judges who shall form the judicial advisory board for a corrections commission are the administrative judge of the general division of the court of common pleas of each county participating in the corrections center, the presiding judge of the municipal court of each municipal corporation participating in the corrections center, and the presiding judge of each county court of each county participating in the corrections center. If the number of the foregoing members of the board is even, the county auditor or the county auditor of the most populous county if the board serves more than one county shall also be a member of the board. Any of the foregoing judges may appoint a designee to serve in the judge's place on the judicial advisory board, provided that the designee shall be a judge of the same court as the judge who makes the appointment. The judicial advisory board for a corrections commission shall meet with the corrections commission at least once each year.

(2) Each board of county commissioners that enters a contract under division (A) of this section may appoint a building commission pursuant to section 153.21 of the Revised Code. If any commissions are appointed, they shall function jointly in the construction of a multicounty or multicounty-municipal correctional center with all the powers and duties authorized by law.

(C) Prior to the acceptance for custody and rehabilitation into a center established under this section of any persons who are designated by the department of rehabilitation and correction, who plead guilty to or are convicted of a felony of the fourth or fifth degree, and who satisfy the other requirements listed in section 5120.161 of the Revised Code, the corrections commission of a center established under this section shall enter into an agreement with the department of rehabilitation and correction under section 5120.161 of the Revised Code for the custody and rehabilitation in the center of persons who are designated by the department, who plead guilty to or are convicted of a felony of the fourth or fifth degree, and who satisfy the other requirements listed in that section, in exchange for a per diem fee per person. Persons incarcerated in the center pursuant to an agreement entered into under this division shall be subject to supervision and control in the manner described in section 5120.161 of the Revised Code. This division does not affect the authority of a court to directly sentence a person who is convicted of or pleads guilty to a felony to the center in accordance with section 2929.16 of the Revised Code.

(D) Pursuant to section 2929.37 of the Revised Code, each board of county commissioners and the legislative authority of each municipal corporation that enters into a contract under division (A) of this section may require a person who was convicted of an offense, who is under the charge of the sheriff of their county or of the officer or officers of the contracting municipal corporation or municipal corporations having charge of persons incarcerated in the municipal jail, workhouse, or other correctional facility, and who is confined in the multicounty, municipal-county, or multicounty-municipal correctional center as provided in that division, to reimburse the applicable county or municipal corporation for its expenses incurred by reason of the person's confinement in the center.

(E) Notwithstanding any contrary provision in this section or section 2929.18, 2929.28, or 2929.37 of the Revised Code, the corrections commission of a center may establish a policy that complies with section 2929.38 of the Revised Code and that requires any person who is not indigent and who is confined in the multicounty, municipal-county, or multicounty-municipal correctional center to pay a reception fee, a fee for medical treatment or service requested by and provided to that person, or the fee for a random drug test assessed under division (E) of section 341.26 of the Revised Code.

(F)

(1) The corrections commission of a center established under this section may establish a commissary for the center. The commissary may be established either in-house or by another arrangement. If a commissary is established, all persons incarcerated in the center shall receive commissary privileges. A person's purchases from the commissary shall be deducted from the person's account record in the center's business office. The commissary shall provide for the distribution to indigent persons incarcerated in the center of necessary hygiene articles and writing materials.

(2) If a commissary is established, the corrections commission of a center established under this section shall establish a commissary fund for the center. The management of funds in the commissary fund shall be strictly controlled in accordance with procedures adopted by the auditor of state. Commissary fund revenue over and above operating costs and reserve shall be considered profits. All profits from the commissary fund shall be used to purchase supplies and equipment for the benefit of persons incarcerated in the center and to pay salary and benefits for employees of the center, or for any other persons, who work in or are employed for the sole purpose of providing service to the commissary. The corrections commission shall adopt rules and regulations for the operation of any commissary fund it establishes.

(G) In lieu of forming a corrections commission to administer a multicounty correctional center or a municipal-county or multicounty-municipal correctional center, the boards of county commissioners and the legislative authorities of the municipal corporations contracting to establish the center may also agree to contract for the private operation and management of the center as provided in section 9.06 of the Revised Code, but only if the center houses only misdemeanant inmates. In order to enter into a contract under section 9.06 of the Revised Code, all the boards and legislative authorities establishing the center shall approve and be parties to the contract.

(H) If a person who is convicted of or pleads guilty to an offense is sentenced to a term in a multicounty correctional center or a municipal-county or multicounty-municipal correctional center or is incarcerated in the center in the manner described in division (C) of this section, or if a person who is arrested for an offense, and who has been denied bail or has had bail set and has not been released on bail is confined in a multicounty correctional center or a municipal-county or multicounty-municipal correctional center pending trial, at the time of reception and at other times the officer, officers, or other person in charge of the operation of the center determines to be appropriate, the officer, officers, or other person in charge of the operation of the center may cause the convicted or accused offender to be examined and tested for tuberculosis, HIV infection, hepatitis, including but not limited to hepatitis A, B, and C, and other contagious diseases. The officer, officers, or other person in charge of the operation of the center may cause a convicted or accused offender in the center who refuses to be tested or treated for tuberculosis, HIV infection, hepatitis, including but not limited to hepatitis A, B, and C, or another contagious disease to be tested and treated involuntarily.

(I) As used in this section, "multicounty-municipal" means more than one county and a municipal corporation, or more than one municipal corporation and a county, or more than one municipal corporation and more than one county.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.29, HB 86, §1, eff. 9/30/2011.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004