Jefferson County commissioners and the sheriff are expected to meet Friday to determine how to cut back on jail costs.

Since voters rejected the jail levy, Sheriff Fred Abdalla said he has no choice but to start turning inmates away because he said he expects to be $500,000 in debt this December.

Commissioner Tom Graham said that number will only grow unless something is immediately done.

Currently, commissioners are in high gear and are researching their options.

"There are four options and all of them are bad," Graham said.

One option commissioners are considering is selling the jail altogether and starting over.

"We're paying the price for that and it should have never been built in the first place, but it's here and we have to do something about it," Graham said.

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The next option is to put the jail levy back on the ballot, but in order to do that the sheriff has to ask for it.

"So far he hasn't requested that and we're waiting to see. It has to be done by Dec. 20 to be on the March ballot," Graham said.

Another option is to lay off personnel, something both the commissioners and the sheriff said they don't want to see happen. The last option is to ship prisoners to other counties and rent out the space.

NEWS9 called several local jails to get their rates: in Columbiana County, it costs $52.71 per inmate per day, Belmont County charges $55 and Marshall County charges $48.50.

Stay with NEWS9 and WTOV9.com for continuing coverage.

-Renee Cardelli & Jackie Cain, NEWS9

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