The race for Hamilton County Sheriff is a rematch this year. But this time, the incumbent is Democratic Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey, and her opponent, former Sheriff Jim Neil, is running with the Republican party.
On Cincinnati Edition, we talk to both candidates about their long history with the department, about staffing shortages the jail has seen, and about Day One if they win election.
We discussed staffing levels during our interview. Here is a statement from Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey’s office regarding current staffing:
“In 2024 the Sheriff’s Office hired 118 deputies for Jail Services which enabled us to maintain a proper staffing of deputy to inmate ratio per state Jail Standards that ensures of the safety of deputies and inmates.
We are in the process of vetting 200 applicants for the November 2024 and future 2025 Corrections Academies that will bring us to a full complement of Jail Service deputies by the end of 2025.
We are currently properly staffed at 285 deputies; our approved compliment is 339.”
During our interview with Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey, she claimed that use of force under former Sheriff Jim Neil was "wrong" in many ways and said the restraint chair was being "abused." We reached out to the Sheriff’s Department for the current use of restraint policy under Sheriff McGuffey and the previous restraint policy under former Sheriff Neil, both of which you can see below.
We air the interviews in the order we recorded them.
Guests:
- Jim Neil, former Hamilton County sheriff, Republican candidate for sheriff
- Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey, Democratic candidate for sheriff
- Howard Wilkinson, WVXU senior political analyst
Ways to listen to this show:
- Tune in live at noon ET M-F. Call 513-419-7100 or email talk@wvxu.org to have your voice heard on today’s topic.
- Catch the replay on 91.7 WVXU and 88.5 WMUB at 8 p.m. ET M-F.
- Listen on-demand. Audio for this segment will be uploaded to this page by 4 p.m. ET., or subscribe to our podcast.