YOUNGSTOWN — The county will apply to maintain funding for a program that houses some low-level felons at the local level.

Mahoning County commissioners Thursday approved a request by the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office to apply for more than $1.1 million through the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections’ Targeted Community Alternatives to Prison program.

Through that motion, the board also approved a memorandum of understanding among the sheriff’s office, Mahoning County Common Pleas Court and Community Corrections Association.

“This is going to be our fourth cycle of a two-year grant,” said Chief Deputy William Cappabianca. “The Legislature made a change to reduce the state prison population and gave the authority to common pleas court judges to sentence (felony 5) and some (felony 4) inmates to county jail. Sheriff (Jerry) Greene was one of the first to jump on it, and we were one of the first to receive it in the state of Ohio.”

In Mahoning County, the program is applied only to those convicted of fifth-degree felonies, Cappabianca said.

The TCAP program gives judges the discretion — based on the severity of the offense, the person’s criminal history and other factors — to sentence low-level felons to county jail for up to six months, jail or minimum-security jail for offenses like felony OVI for up to one year, or to a halfway house, other residential facility or even house arrest.

Often low-level felons are given probation, and those who violate the terms may be sent to jail for short stints, and TCAP funds also can be used for those inmates.

Statistics provided by MCSO state the new grant will run from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2027. In the past, the county has received about $1.1 million.

Cappabianca said about $585,72 of that is used to pay the county at a rate of $125 per day per inmate, the same rate the county receives for housing federal inmates.

Since the program began in 2017, Mahoning County has housed a total of 326 convicted felons over a total of 24,082 days, all of whom served time here instead of going to a state prison.

The county has collected $2.22 million in reimbursement through the grant program.

In addition to housing costs, the grant provides $220,000 to support the salaries of CCA employees who work at the sheriff’s office to complete presentencing reports for Common Pleas Court judges who are considering sentences for felony offenders. Two full-time employees also track grant spending and monitor the inmates sentenced under the TCAP program.

Cappabianca said the program also provides support for those inmates and people in community service through CCA.

“They will do work for the sheriff’s community service program, for example through the Mahoning County Green Team, doing recycling, or other work through the county, providing services like grass cutting, weeding, and other jobs like that,” he said.

He said the grant provides $10,000 per year for that purpose. CCA also will receive up to $20,000 to cover house arrest costs for indigent convicts, billed at $6 per day per person.

Cappabianca said the remaining funds can be used for employees who provide direct service, including fringe benefits, for equipment, transportation, repairs and maintenance, staff training and development, drug and alcohol testing, waste disposal and other administrative costs.