Ohio to sell former jail to Hocking County for $1, rehabilitate into women's facility

NELSONVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) -- Ohio will sell a state-owned former correctional facility to Hocking County for $1 to establish a new regional jail.

At a Hocking County Commissioners Meeting on Jan. 13, commissioners announced the state was selling them the former Hocking Correctional Unit at the low price to grant funding for renovations. Hocking Correctional closed in 2018 but will be repurposed as a day-treatment facility for minor misdemeanor offenders and a female-only jail.

Commissioner Michael Linton said the top two floors will house female inmates, and the first floor of the three-story building will be a treatment facility for minor charges and drug-related crimes. Linton said not only will the facility address a need for the region, it should also benefit Hocking County financially.

Currently, the regional jail is the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail, which serves five southeastern Ohio counties, including Hocking. Commissioners said the region is in need of another facility.

"I know the judges are excited about the opportunity to have that locally," Linton said. "I know the other regional jail that houses men and women (is) looking forward to moving the women out of that facility and into this facility."

Commissioners applauded Hocking County Sheriff's Deputy Leif Bickel, who has been working with the state and other organizations in the region to create the new jail for women. The advocacy has been in progress for several years; in 2021, Gov. Mike DeWine pledged a $12 million investment into the rehabilitation project to help ease the stress on other area jails.

At the time, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Annette Chambers-Smith said the renovated facility will bring some "much-needed female beds" to the area. The site will also help local communities through treatment services, including assistance for people affected by the opioid epidemic.

Bickel, Sheriff Lanny North and Judge Fred Moses worked hard to bring the facility to life, commissioners said, and due to their efforts, the commissioners anticipate things will move quickly.

"Within 18 months we should be able to move into the building, there's been significant work done on it to date," Linton said.

The Hocking Correctional Unit was first built as a hospital to treat tuberculosis patients in 1955 and was also used as a children's center before it became a prison in the early 1980s. It was a major employer at the time of its closure, and union representatives and officials representing those in the area were outspoken against the decision.

It closed with limited notice in 2018 for financial reasons, with the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction stating the unit was the single most expensive facility in the state. The unit cost $65 per inmate per day, where similar facilities cost $21 per inmate per day. It's 430 inmates and 110 staff were relocated to other facilities in Ohio.