2009 Annual Court Services Report
            Lt. Jeffrey Sherwood          

I  EVIDENCE COLLECTION: 

      In order to prove criminal cases, it may become necessary for Deputies to collect and store evidence at the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.  Evidence collected may be as small as a piece of paper or as large as a motor vehicle.  Whatever the case may be, it is the responsibility of the evidence technician to properly file and store evidence for various cases.  It is important to note that not all property collected by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office is for the sole purpose of pursuing a criminal case.  Many times the Lake County Sheriff’s Office is called upon to hold items for safekeeping.  An example of such a request may come from the Domestic Relations Court.  It is not uncommon for the Sheriff’s Office to receive an order from a Judge, directing us to remove weapons (mainly firearms) from what the court deems a “volatile home” anywhere in Lake County.  Many cases, whether they be criminal or civil in nature, remain in evidence until released by a Judge or Prosecutor.  This process alone may take many years to complete.

2009 Statistics: 

-          (446) total cases were processed through the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Evidence Room.
-          (1,228) items of evidence were processed as a result of those 474 cases. 
-          (161) cases were sent to the Lake County Crime Lab for forensic analysis.
-          (353) is the # of items that were sent to the Lake County Crime Lab for forensic

II  SORN/CCW: 

S.O.R.N.:   

     In recent years there have been laws/provisions made to the ORC in regards to sex offenders who are either incarcerated or have been released from prison.  Sheriffs’ Offices throughout the State of Ohio have been tasked with the important responsibility of tracking sex offenders.  The responsibility involves registering offenders in the following manner:   

-          Tier I offenders register once a year for 15 years.
-          Tier II offenders register every 180 days for 25 years.
-          Tier III offenders register every 90 days for life.

     Deputies assigned to this detail must keep updated records of offenders, where they reside, where they work, and even where they go to school.  It is also the responsibility of these Deputies to notify residents and local schools when a registered sex offender moves into their community.  These notifications are almost always made in the form of mass mailings which is supported by the taxpayers of Lake County.   

 2009 Statistics: 

 -          (475) Yearly registrations were completed for sex offenders in Lake County. 
-          (54) Tier I Sex Offenders were registered in 2009.
-          (104) Tier II Sex Offenders were registered in 2009.
-          (317)   Tier III Sex Offenders were registered in 2009.
-    (16)   Changes of address were made for Tier III Sex Offenders 2009.
-          (55)   Residential verifications were made of registered offenders in 2009.
-          (3)   Reports were submitted regarding failure to register which resulted in (3) separate warrants being issued.  All (3)             warrants were served and parties arrested.
-          (20)   Parties were preregistered as Sex Offenders before heading to prison. 
-          In properly documenting the moves of registered sex offenders there were 3,327 offender
            notifications made throughout various communities in Lake County for 2009. 
-          Notifications resulted in a mail cost of $931.56     
-          As of 12-31-2009, there were (188) adult and juvenile sex offenders/predators registered and residing in Lake    
            County.  There are an additional (98) sex offenders/predators registered through this office who are currently in
           prison or youth detention facilities.

 CCW:        

             As with sex offender registrations, Sheriffs’ Offices throughout the State of Ohio have been given the statutory responsibility of issuing concealed weapons permits.  Permits may be issued on a permanent/renewable basis or on a temporary/emergency basis.  Registrations involve the verification of an applicants mandated firearms training and the completion of a criminal background investigation.  Deputies must also issue a physical permit which is subject to revocation if the CCW law is not followed by the permit holder.  What is important to note is that anyone may apply for a CCW permit in their home county or in an adjacent county.  Not all CCW permit applicants who have registered in Lake County are residents of this county. 

2009 Statistics: 

 -          (2270) New CCW permits were issued through the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.   This number is up (589) from
             2008 and up (1075) from 2007.
-          (698) CCW permits had been renewed in 2009.
-          (60) CCW permits had been suspended.  This number is up (22) from 2008. 
-          (33) CCW permits had been denied.  This number is the same from 2008. 
-          (8) CCW permits had been revoked.  This number is up (4) from 2007. 

     A total of (101) certified letters were mailed for the suspended, revoked, and denied CCW permits.  Each mailing is $5.54 for a total cost of $559.54.

III  ISSUANCE OF COURT ORDERS:     

      Lake County Sheriff’s Deputies are responsible for the issuing of different orders from the Lake County Courts of Common Pleas.  These orders are in the form of indictments, domestic violence protection orders, civil stalking orders, warrants on indictment, and civil/criminal subpoenas   The Lake County Sheriff’s Office will also deliver papers from other county courts as long as the recipient of those papers resides in Lake County. 

 2009 Statistics:

 -          (312) Summons’ on Indictment issued.

-          (354) Stalking/Domestic Protection Orders issued. 

-          Service was made on (2617) orders.

-          Service was could not be made on (395) orders.

 SHERIFF’S SALES:

         For 2009, the Lake County Sheriff has continued to see a rise in the area of Sheriff’s Sales.  With the exception of replevins, all other categories are on the rise. 

 2009 Statistics:

  -          Foreclosures:  1,342 (up 193 from 2008).

-          Writs:  107

-          Executions:  33

-          Replevins:  28

  IV  FUGITIVE EXTRADITIONS/WARRANTS:

       Whether an arrest warrant has been issued by a grand jury or through a probable cause hearing, it is the responsibility of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to locate and apprehend those individuals.  In many cases people flee prosecution at which point they become fugitives.  Regardless if someone has fled 1 mile or 3000 miles, it is our responsibility to apprehend these individuals and bring them back to Lake County for their day in court.  Many fugitives leave the State of Ohio figuring they can simply blend in with society to avoid prosecution.  Some feel the further they travel the better off they are.  This is not the case.  Fugitive extraditions require coordination not only logistically, but financially. 

     The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is always looking at ways to save taxpayers money in order to bring fugitives back to Lake County for their necessary court hearings.   Outside of having L.C.S.O. Deputies bring fugitives back to Ohio, which may be costly, assistance from the U.S. Marshall’s Office, Prisoner Transport Services and TransCor may be needed.  Based on the amount of prisoner transports the U.S. Marshall’s Office completes across the country daily, they are able to bring fugitives back from a far away state much cheaper than the L.C.S.O.  The same holds true for Prisoner Transport Services and TransCor, which are private prisoner transportation companies.  By using the U.S. Marshall’s, TransCor, and Prisoner Transport Services, we have saved the taxpayers thousands of dollars annually.  We no longer have to pay Deputies to travel to far away locations, which would include the cost of meals, hotel accommodations, and air fare.  Exceptional cases aside, Deputies from the L.C.S.O. mainly handle extraditions that do not require an overnight stay.

 2009 Statistics: 

-          (7) Extraditions were completed by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office at a cost $147.59.  These extraditions involved one day trips to locations just over state lines. 

-          (19) Extraditions were completed by PTS of America at a cost of $23,135.71. 

 *NOTE:  The above arrest numbers represent out of state extraditions.  This year alone, fugitives were extradited from California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Virginia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Colorado, North Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi.  There were no co-op transports with the U.S. Marshall’s in 2009 due to budget constraints at the federal level.  

      The Lake County Sheriff’s Office currently holds about 878 outstanding arrest warrants.  This number is slightly up from last year.  Communication and coordination with other local, state, and federal police agencies is key to having successful criminal apprehensions when pursuing fugitives.  The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is always seeking innovative ways to locate fugitives.  Thanks to technological advances and an outstanding rapport with other police agencies, fugitive apprehensions were very successful for 2009.

 2009 Statistics:

-          (1,477) Warrants were received at the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.  

-          (1,067) warrants were served.  This number is down (119) from 2009.

-    (316) warrants were recalled or returned to the court for dismissal.

 

V  COURT HOUSE SECURITY:

     With public safety being paramount, there have been numerous changes in the security procedures at the various Lake County Common Pleas Courts in the past few years.  One item in particular is the way we track and prohibit contraband from entering into the Lake County Court House and the Lake County Juvenile Detention Facility.  By tracking our progress we are able to fairly evaluate what might be missed if we were not diligent in our duties.  The following numbers represent what was barred in 2009:

 -          (177) Items of contraband were barred in January of 2009.

-          (177) Items of contraband were barred in February of 2009.

-          (148) Items of contraband were barred in March of 2009.

-          (173) Items of contraband were barred in April of 2009.

-          (106) Items of contraband were barred in May of 2009.

-          (138) Items of contraband were barred in June of 2009.

-          (167) Items of contraband were barred in July of 2009.

-          (144) Items of contraband were barred in August of 2009.

-          (133) Items of contraband were barred in September of 2009.

-          (149) Items of contraband were barred in October of 2009.

-          (118) Items of contraband were barred in November of 2009.

-          (96) Items of contraband were barred in December of 2009.

TOTAL:  1,726 items

*NOTE:  Contraband has been determined to be any weapon, item that may be used as a weapon, or item not permitted into the court house by a Judge’s order.

 VI  PRISONER TRANSPORTS:

     It is the responsibility of the Deputies from the Court Services Division to complete all prisoner transports to and from court, hospitals, and the various prisons throughout Ohio.  The L.C.S.O. also assists the U.S. Marshal’s Office in transporting prisoners they have housed at the Lake County Jail to the Federal Court Houses in Cleveland and Akron.  It should be noted that the U.S. Marshal’s Office reimburses the Lake County Sheriff’s Office for all of their prisoner transports.    

2009 Statistics: 

-   (942) Prisoner to court transports.

-   (117) Prisoner escorts to probation.

-   (206) Prisoner Transports for the U.S. Marshal’s.  $13,115.27 was reimbursed back to the 

     Lake County Sheriff’s Office for these transports.

-   (258) Transports that involved going to prisons.   

-   (55) Prisoner medical transports.

 

2006 Annual Report