CONNEAUT —
Local leaders are confident they have seen the end of the bureaucratic tug-of-war that accompanied the recent sale of Lake Erie Correctional Institution to a private security company.
City administrators, at Monday’s City Council meeting, said a legal ruling issued last week by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine provided the definitive opinion on the sticky issue of who handles criminal investigations inside the prison. “This matter has been put to rest,” said Law Director David Schroeder.
For the past two months, opinions swung back and forth on the investigation matter. Depending on the week — or day — either the city’s police department or the Ohio State Highway Patrol would handle felony-level cases that originate at the prison, now the property of Corrections Corporation of America. The OHP assumed the duty while the LaECI was a state-owned facility.
DeWine put the matter to rest with a letter that said the prison is still considered a state institution since it houses state inmates, despite its private ownership. As a result, the OHP will remain the primary law enforcement authority at LaECI.
No documents or agreements are required of the city or state to back up DeWine’s opinion, Schroe-der said.
“We will maintain the status quo,” he said. “The police department will not be burdened.”
Plenty of people deserve credit for this “very fine resolution,” Schroeder said, including council members, administrators, State Rep. Casey Kozlowski and State Sen. Capri Cafaro.
Councilman-at-Large Neil LaRusch, who arranged a meeting with Gov. John Kasich on the law enforcement issue, praised Schroe-der for spearheading negotiations with the state.
“We really all stuck together (on the matter),” LaRusch said. “I was 100 percent op-timistic it would work out, and I’m 100 percent thankful it worked out.”
Ward 1 Councilman Doug-las Hedrick praised the officials who went toe-to-toe with the state on the matter.
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