The staff of the legislative watchdog that monitors the Ohio prison system is so depleted that it uses interns to evaluate correctional facilities, reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The Correctional Institution Inspection Committee has just one full-time employee. Five years ago, it had six: a director and five inspectors with backgrounds in the criminal justice system. The staff has struggled to write reports to legislators and the public on the state’s 27 prisons and three juvenile facilities. The latest prison inspection reports were placed online in 2017. Five years ago, reports were posted online within a month of a prison’s inspection. “There are serious issues within the corrections system in Ohio, and people should be concerned that there is no oversight,’’ said former agency Joanna Saul.
The committee has offered a critical eye on a prison system that spent nearly $1.8 billion in 2018. It is the only group that performs inspections and examines the issues that deal with inmates and the conditions inside the facilities’ walls, such as health care, use of force and violence, and writes reports on the issues. State lawmakers are expected to assign members to the committee this week, a move that may determine the panel’s future.