The city of Bedford Heights has closed its jail, citing declining revenues. The facility had housed inmates from surrounding communities, as well as from the Cuyahoga County sheriff and U.S. immigration services.
Police Chief Michael Marotta said the city could no longer support the jail as the number of new inmates fell dramatically.
"At the beginning of this year and late last year, our numbers were down to about 10 prisoners or less," he said. "To put that in perspective, there had been times here where we had over 100 inmates."
Marotta said the county and immigration services have been housing inmates elsewhere lately. He said the city laid off 15 full time and eight part-time corrections officers, though the jail will still house a few inmates arrested by local police.
