Switzerland County approves MOU to house Ohio inmates, county official says it will bring about $250,000 a year

On March 16, 2026 the Switzerland County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to approve a memorandum of understanding to house inmates from an Ohio county, an agreement that county staff said would generate new revenue for the sheriff’s office.

Brian Morton, speaking for the sheriff’s office, told the board the arrangement would produce “an additional income of $250,000 a year as guaranteed income” and said the county could consider committing part of that revenue to employees in the sheriff’s department. The MOU was presented to commissioners as a contract requiring formal approval; Commissioner Joe Bennett moved to approve it, Jamie Peters seconded, and all three commissioners voted in favor.

Commissioners and staff did not detail in the meeting transcript how the $250,000 figure was calculated, how many beds or which facilities would be used, or the timeline for receipts. The contract text was presented at the meeting but the transcript does not record the implementation schedule, any facility modifications, or whether the county will contractually guarantee staffing or operating-cost offsets.

Morton framed the MOU as a revenue opportunity for the sheriff’s office; commissioners approved the contract as presented but made no additional budgetary direction in the recorded discussion. The board did not record a roll-call vote in the transcript beyond the motion, second and “all in favor.”

Next steps recorded in the meeting minutes are limited to the approval itself; further operational details and any changes to staffing or budget allocations were not specified during this session.