Stolen Inmate Property Costing Taxpayers

A state legislative correctional committee report says lost or stolen inmate property costs Ohio taxpayers more than 150-thousand dollars a year in reimbursements and diverted staff time.The report says inmates lose property when they're moved from one cell to another, store property in unsecured storage areas or have it stolen by other prisoners. The report says the losses can hurt inmates' legal outcomes when important documents go missing but also result in time and money taken away from the corrections system. It says one in five inmate grievances involve lost or stolen property and half of the property grievances involve material that was lost, damaged or confiscated by staff.