Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader has come out against any talk of a tax levy for purpose of constructing a jail in the county. Reader took to his Facebook page to launch a detailed explanation of how he believes Pike County Commissioners of the past have failed to address the need and funding of a county jail, as Pike County has for many years has had to pay to house their prisoners in other counties.
Reader claims that not "one cent of a 1/2% sales and use tax" approved in 2007 has gone to constructing a Pike County Jail. He added that for almost a decade, one million dollars was spent sending inmates to the Ross County Jail without addressing the need of building a jail in Pike.
Sheriff Reader is calling for public meetings to discuss this issue further, and bring to light what has and hasn't been done.
See Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader's Facebook post below....
ATTENTION CITIZENS PLEASE SHARE WITH ALL YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS, and NEIGHBORS!!!!!!!
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT CRISIS SITUATION
With all the questions on the jail issue, I AM NOT IN FAVOR OF A TAX LEVY... I will be sharing a public record passed in 2007 that I believe will answer some of your questions on the 1/2 percent sales and use tax put into place in 2007 by then, the Pike County Board of Commissioners. I think it will raise many questions as well but in all transparency, you, the citizens, have the right to know. I will be sharing tomorrow and please read it carefully and pay close attention to the money that was given to Ross County for a decade. After the money ran dry in 2000, ( nearly 1 million dollars later) still no solution to the same issues back then as we are having now based on 1/2 the inmate population that we now have daily. This document references back to the 90's and the years 2000, 2004, and 2005. (13) THIRTEEN YEARS LATER AT THE LEAST, yet no solutions and please compare the budget projected 13 years ago for the Sheriff's Office to what I have been given to operate on in 2018 traveling all over the State of Ohio, not just to Ross or Scioto County where we rarely house prisoners. To date, 13 years later, I am unaware of one cent, not even a single penny, put aside and specifically designated for the building of a jail which 3/4 of this document speaks of. No plan, no fund, no answers. I will share with you in black and white. Clearly, it appears that no plans, even though a feasibility study was completed and blue prints designed, were to ever build a jail in Pike County. I've been ask where the 1/2 percent sales and use tax money went or currently going to. I have yet to find the answers. The lengthy document will speak for itself and it's a pretty good read, however, you have to catch the twist at the end. I will highlight some interesting figures from over a decade ago in reference to projected housing cost not including transportation of inmates, the auditors projected budget for the Sheriff's Office then with an additional 11 staff members averaging 35 to 40 inmates per day. I will let you do the math and would love to hear your viewpoint on budget appropriations then vs now, staffing, housing cost, transportation cost, meal cost, ECT. I believe it is very self explanatory and will be a little shocking to most of you. I welcome public meetings to fully discuss and disclose this public record.
Sheriff Reader