21 News has been investigating concerns about the conditions and operations at the Columbiana County Jail.

On Thursday, 21 News laid out concerns including a federal lawsuit alleging jail staff mistreated an inmate to the point of a permanent brain injury. Mistreatment of inmates was also on display in body cam footage obtained after two corrections officers were charged with assaulting inmates. Plus, a recent state inspection of the jail found an above-average number of infractions.

So who's being the jail's operations?

Usually, the sheriff's department operates a jail and oversees state standards, but Columbiana County is an outlier.

It's the only privately owned jail in the state. The company operating the jail is Correctional Solutions Group, based out of Texas.

Columbiana County Jail Warden Thomas Mackie who came on board in October, said the infractions are unacceptable.

"I am not happy with this report," Mackie said, "I wouldn't be happy with it if I was sitting in this chair when that audit was done. All I can tell you is that you're never going to see the report when I'm in this chair that looks like that."

He blames some violations on clerical issues and said proper documentation wasn't given to the inspector.

"This is a people issue, this is a supervision issue, and this is a process issue," he said, "What those audits are designed to do is to find what processes work and what don't. Sometimes they need to be tweaked. Sometimes you have to adjust to what the audit found. That's what we'll do, and we'll make that we'll make those positions better."

He said he will ensure the roughly 50 corrections officers have proper training.

"There was training that wasn't provided, and I can't answer why that was because I wasn't here," he said, "I can tell you training is going to be at the forefront of everything we do moving forward."

In recent weeks, the county has hired four new nurses to work in the jail after the facility went through a period without proper care.

"I'm very confident. I have a great staff here. I've got a great medical team here," he said, "We'll be better next year. I mean, that's something I have no doubt."

Columbiana County Sheriff Brian McLaughlin said the jail violations speak for themselves and his biggest concern is the safety of inmates.

"You have people up there for minor offenses as well, and they need to have a safe stay and the ones that aren't there for minor offenses need to as well," McLaughlin said, "The jail needs to be run right, it needs to be run safely, it needs to be run clean, and it would be great to have us under population as well the way it should be."

McLaughlin said he submitted a plan to run the jail and the sheriff's department could bring a higher level of accountability and stability to inmates.

"I know if I was in total control of the jail, I would assure that it was being run appropriately," he said, "But ultimately, it comes down to commissioners and the funding, and do they have the funding for it? I haven't had a lengthy conversation about the proposal with the commissioners."

As it stands now, the county pays CSG about $4.3-million annually to run the jail.

It's been privately run since the '90s because of financial issues at a time when the county had to build a brand-new jail and Commissioner Mike Halleck spearheaded the privatization.

Halleck estimates a savings of $50-million dollars over that time period and does not think the county can afford to run the jail.

"We're not law and order people, we're administrators," Halleck said, "And we have to decide the best use of our funds. I hate to tell you, the average person in this county for the last 28 years doesn't call down here and say, 'Please get rid of the private jail and raise my taxes.'"

21 News asked Halleck if the savings are worth it in 2024 with concerns over the well-being and safety of inmates.

"Absolutely," he said, "$50-million later, Madison, it's real money."

Halleck adds Columbiana County voters turned down a sales tax on the November ballot that makes up for the majority of the county budget, and has been a driving force in funding the county for decades. 

The jail cannot comment on pending lawsuits regarding inmate mistreatment, but the jail provided records showing the administration is correcting violations from the last inspection. 

McLaughlin added although he thinks his department would be the best fit to operate the jail and bring real change, he has faith that Mackie will bring improvement based on his experience in corrections.