The distance between life and death for people arrested and sent to jail in Ohio can depend on the location and county. Ohio has 181 standards for full-service jails in place to guarantee a basic level of care for inmates statewide. A lack of enforcement and deference to local control mean conditions and treatment in a county jail ultimately comes down to the priorities of the county sheriff, The Cincinnati Enquirer reports. For example, there is a stark divide between the approaches of the Butler County Corrections Center and Hamilton County Justice Center though the counties neighbor each other. Cody Bohanan, 24, was arrested and booked into the Butler County jail, where he died from complications related to opioid withdrawal. Just 22 miles away, Ashley Schwartz, 45, was arrested near a hospital and received medication in the Hamilton County Justice Center for her withdrawal symptoms and counseling for her addiction. She was released in January.
When Republican Sheriff Richard Jones took office in Butler County jail in 2005, he instituted chain gangs and the "warden burger," a punishment meal made with ground turkey and cabbage and served to inmates in solitary confinement. Jones also previously said his deputies don't carry naloxone (Narcan), a medication that can quickly reverse opioid overdoses. The Hamilton County jail recently added new dorm-style spaces for treating addiction. Democratic Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey, the first woman to hold the office, wants everyone in the recovery treatment pods to sign an agreement to work on their addiction. She also said officers are trained to notice when a person is in distress, and other inmates help by alerting officers to someone who could be overdosing. McGuffey said the Hamilton County Jail does not serve anything like Butler County's warden burger. "We just put the message out, you know, you're absolutely not going to act badly inside this jail or there will be consequences, but they don't have to be the burger," she said.
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