Solon Jail Could House Twinsburg Prisoners by New Year

The Solon Jail may have new prisoners by Jan. 1, 2013.

Twinsburg Police Chief Chris Noga hopes to have city council approve an agreement with Solon to house its prisoners at the Solon Jail in the next few weeks. If approved, the transition would likely be effective starting with the new year.

"I’m recommending that we press forward and house all of our prisoners at the Solon jail,” Noga said to Twinsburg City Council last Tuesday.

The agreement would be for three years and would cost the city $85,000 each year to use Solon's a full service jail and correction staff.

The Twinsburg Police Department currently operates a 12-day facility. The operation cost for 2011 was $152,000 including labor, supplies, feeding prisoners, according to Noga.

Potential savings for Twinsburg in this agreement could be anywhere from $60,000 to $100,000, he said.

"There will be actual savings in this," Noga said.

“This will allow his officers to make an arrest, drop them off [in Solon] and get back on the road without the booking and jailing duties and related costs,” Solon Police Chief Chris Viland told the Twinsburg Bulletin in a recent report.

Agreements like this give Viland a "steady stream of revenue" for him to plan out a year in advance, according to the Twinsburg Bulletin.

The largest savings will be in labor and food costs. There won’t be mandatory checks on prisoners, freeing officers to patrol more, Noga said.

“I’d much rather have officers out patrolling neighborhoods than dealing with bookings and the jail,” Noga said.

Twinsburg will still cover prisoner medical costs, but many medical complaints can be taken care of by a physician in Solon's jail.

If for any reason this doesn't work out in the beginning, there will be a 90-day clause where Twinsburg could forego the contract and house its own prisoners.

“I think this is a great opportunity for us, especially to ellivate some liability to our department,” Noga said.