Ohio State relocating death row inmates Move brings together 148 on death row

By Andrew Welsh-Huggins AP Legal Affairs Writer COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The state confirmed Monday that it's relocating death row to a southern Ohio prison that's close to the state's death house to save money and open up beds for violent inmates. The move from the super-maximum prison in Youngstown to the Chillicothe Correctional Institution would bring together 117 death row inmates currently housed in Youngstown and 29 housed at Mansfield Correctional Institution in a mental health unit. The move would add 300 high-security cells in Mansfield and Youngstown for inmates involved in violent acts against prison staff and other inmates at lower security facilities. Of the more than 5,000 violent incidents in 2009 and 2010, only five were committed by death row inmates, according to prison data. The move also would save money for the state, which currently spends about $1,200 to move an inmate to the death house at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville and about $400 for the move from Mansfield to Lucasville. The new cost will be negligible because the trip is so short -- about 37 miles -- and staff won't have to stay overnight, said Carlo LoParo, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The move is the third for Ohio's death row since the state reenacted capital punishment in 1981. "We are going to reduce violence in our prisons, and we are going to do it by better allocating our resources," prisons director Gary Mohr said in a statement. The 2005 move to Youngstown angered some defense attorneys and family members of death row inmates because it dramatically increased the driving time needed to reach the prisoners for most people in the state. The new location is much closer to Columbus, where many inmates' defense attorneys work, but is now far from family members in northern Ohio. One advantage for death row inmates is that their new cells will have windows, giving them access through the secure openings to fresh air. The state expects to complete the move to Chillicothe Correctional Institution, a medium-security prison with about 3,000 inmates, by January. The move is part of Mohr's efforts to make the best use of the overcrowded prison system's space and employees. Mohr also recently announced a plan to isolate gang members from across the system into three units where prisoners would be in cells up to 23 hours a day. Executions are in the midst of an unofficial lull in Ohio, following two commutations and three postponements since June. The next execution is scheduled for November. Published: Tue, Oct 4, 2011