The Coshocton County Beacon December 15, 2022 | Page 19

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December 15 , 2022 The Beacon • 19

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ming space and more medical space .
“ Prisons and jails are a place for rehabilitation and redemption . Gov . DeWine said he wants everyone in Ohio to live up to their God-given potential , and he means that for the employees and also for the people living inside the jail . If we can help that start earlier on , your community will be better because these people will be coming right back into your community . I ’ m excited about the space and compliance you will be getting , and when you fix your problems like mental illness and substance abuse , that ’ s when you can start to change your county for the better . It will be designed to use less staff , so when this gets built , it will be the right size for the
workforce available .”
Tiffany Swigert , executive director of the Coshocton Port Authority , helped with a $ 2.4 million mediation project getting the ground ready to build the justice center .
“ We ’ re excited to repurpose this property ,” Swigert said .
Ohio Sen . Jay Hottinger said , “ It ’ s a great honor to be here . When they showed me the crowded jail conditions , that was a prescription for disaster . It is not an overstatement . County commissioners Dane Shryock and Gary Fischer ’ s effort to increase sales tax was the smartest way to go . The credit goes to your commissioners for reaching out to us .”
Hottinger carried an amendment through the Senate to allow an additional half-percent sales tax , and that allowed
enough money .
“ That provides $ 10.1 million for this project and additional $ 8 million from the State of Ohio , so with that $ 18.1 million , very soon Coshocton County will have a jail for the 21st century , and that will be a justifiable source of pride ,” Hottinger said on presenting Dane Shryock with a proclamation from the Ohio Senate .
“ We ’ ve been very fortunate in Coshocton County to have a tremendous working relationship with not only our state representatives , our state senators , but also the governor ’ s office and his cabinet . I don ’ t think people realize how important it is to keep that line of communication open and understand what it takes on their part to make this kind of thing happen ,” Shryock said .
State Rep . Kevin
Miller said , “ One of the things I quickly realized in Coshocton was the collaboration on all levels in this community . A project like this does not get done without that collaboration . I ’ m going to leave this in good hands with the new representative , Darrell Kick , but I am going to miss this here because that is something special and unique . You can ’ t do projects like this unless everybody is working to the same drumbeat , and that is what they do here in Coshocton . I am so blessed to have the opportunity to work with these folks .”
Miller and Kick presented the community with a proclamation as well .
“ Every one of our elected officials including the mayor and his staff , judges , prosecutors , everyone went door to door , township meetings
and talked about this sales tax . I do not think it would have passed without that committee . It ’ s very important in a small community to get that word out , door to door , face to face ,” Shryock said .
John Carey , director of the Governor ’ s Office of Appalachia , said , “ I am here to congratulate you for all the great work you have done on behalf of Gov . DeWine . There are a lot of great things going on in Coshocton County .”
Sheriff James Crawford said he was very excited .
“ Without everyone ’ s help in the community , this new facility would never have happened . The commitment from our community is second to none . Twenty-two years ago , Sheriff Corbett originally applied for a grant for a new justice center . Back then
the county didn ’ t have the finances . Twentytwo years of committees , campaigns , convincing the community to take part in such a special project , there are way too many people to thank ,” Crawford said . “ Local and state officials have devoted thousands of hours to this project .
“ I cannot begin to express how much I appreciate all of their efforts and commitment to the new justice center — persistence and determination during all those years . They never gave up , and for that , I am grateful .”
Coshocton County prosecutor Jason Given said , “ It ’ s an exciting day for Coshocton , but it ’ s an exciting day for Ohio to show how a small rural county in Ohio can go out and work at the state level with everyone and really accomplish a very significant goal .”
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