Youngstown Daily Legal News

Sale of prison in Marion awaits Kasich's signature

TIFFANY L. PARKS
Special to the Legal News
Published: July 31, 2015

A bill that would allow the state to sell the North Central Correctional Institution in Marion, among other properties, has been sent to Gov. John Kasich for his signature.

The contested bill would authorize 18 conveyances of state-owned real estate to various persons, by various methods, including by direct sale, sealed proposal, sealed bid auction or public auction.

Besides the sale of the North Central Correctional Institution, House Bill 238 would also permit the state to sell the Turtle Creek Center in Lebanon and land belonging to the University of Toledo and Ohio University.

The bill also would authorize the execution of a perpetual water line easement to the city of Piqua and allow the director of the Ohio Office of Budget and Management to transfer money in the Adult and Juvenile Correctional Facilities Bond Retirement Fund to any fund created in the state treasury that is administered by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction or the Ohio Department of Youth Services.

The bill is jointly sponsored by Reps. Barbara Sears, R-Sylvania, and Robert McColley, R-Napoleon.

Before the measure passed the Senate in a 31-1 vote, Keith Hochadel, president and CEO of Quest Recovery and Prevention Services, urged lawmakers to push the bill to Gov. John Kasich.

“I firmly believe the passage of this bill, which includes our Massillon property that we currently lease from the Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services, is vital to enhancing the services and level of care we can provide our clients of both Stark County and the surrounding region,” he said, adding that enactment is timely.

“The reason for this concern is largely based on the opiate epidemic within the communities we serve. As you are likely aware, this epidemic has had a tremendous impact on the way all alcohol and drug providers do business.”

In addition to the increase in overdose deaths, family devastation and crime associated with this class of drugs, Hochadel said he’s witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number of clients seeking medication assisted recovery, counseling, residential treatment and recovery housing services.

“For instance, between 2007 and now, the city of Canton has seen a 215 percent increase in the number of individuals seeking services for an opiate addiction, while the city of Massillon has seen a 559 percent increase,” he said.

“These numbers tell us there are many individuals desperate for help, and the purchase of this property will allow Quest to expand our services offered and give more individuals the life-saving treatment they so desperately need.”

Hochadel said Quest officials have spent a great deal of time over the last several months planning a series of enhancements centered around the need for creating services to help get individuals into treatment who have an opiate addiction.

“However, these enhancements are not attainable under the current lease agreement given the additional time and expense it takes to renovate a building that is leased by an organization from the state of Ohio,” he said.

HB 238 states that if Quest Recovery and Prevention Services does not complete the purchase of the real estate and close within the time period provided in the real estate purchase agreement, the director of the Ohio Department of Administrative Services may use any reasonable method of sale considered acceptable by the mental health and addiction services department to locate an alternate grantee willing to purchase the real estate.

In that event, mental health and addiction services would have to pay all advertising costs, additional fees and other costs associated to the real estate sale.

While the bill has gained support from would-be sellers and buyers, the measure has garnered opposition from ACLU of Ohio.

“Legislators have shuffled the sale of a state prison between bills like a shell game during the massive biennium budget review, with absolutely no public notice or debate,” said Mike Brickner, ACLU of Ohio senior policy director. “We are now urging Gov. Kasich to say no to these political games and veto this extremely controversial sale.”

Rep. Kathleen Clyde, D-Kent, released a statement opposing the bill’s provisions.

“I oppose the sale of the North Central Correctional Institution and the Turtle Creek Center because privatizing state prisons is the wrong direction for Ohio,” she said.

“The state recently sold the Lake Erie Correctional Institution, and the results have been disastrous. Since this sale 18 months ago, there have been 248 security complaints, compared to 157 such complaints in the 11 years prior. Also, after the sale, the facility immediately added 300 more beds, and has suffered serious overcrowding problems and hazardous conditions for inmates and workers.”

Like ACLU of Ohio, Clyde has taken issue with the bill being amended to include the state prison properties.

“These last-minute additions to HB 238 have not been vetted. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections did not provide testimony to the legislative committees hearing this proposal,” she said.

“A lot of questions and concerns remain.”

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