ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Overcrowding has been an issue at the Belmont County Jail, but a new element is making the matter more complicated — an influx of female inmates.

Sheriff David Lucas spoke to the Bethesda-Belmont-Morristown Rotary Club about the problem last week on the same day that county commissioners signed a new contract to house female prisoners in Van Wert County. He said the jail has the capacity to hold 24 women, but as of Wednesday it had 61 women on its books.

For a few years, the county has paid other Ohio counties to house excess male inmates. In particular, men have been taken to the Jefferson County Jail, where they were held at a cost of $55 a day. Lucas said that price will soon rise to $65 per day, noting that Belmont County already spends in excess of $60,000 a month to house excess inmates.

Lucas said the current jail was built in 1996 with a capacity of 84 total beds. An expansion project in 2008 increased that number to 144 beds, but he said the county outgrew that capacity within five years. He believes the county needs to again expand its facility; he said another option would be to construct a new jail for misdemeanor offenders who could be held in “pods” that could include as many as 60 inmates each. A study of the county’s ability to grow its jail will be conducted soon, according to Lucas.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Commissioners Josh Meyer, J.P. Dutton and Jerry Echemann agreed to contact with Van Wert County to house inmates at a rate of $45 per day.

“We have an overcrowding issue with our jail, and this contract specifically speaks to the housing of female prisoners,” Meyer said, adding that for the last year the commissioners have housed 20-25 male prisoners per day in Jefferson County. He noted that Jefferson County’s jail does not accept female inmates.

Meyer said commissioners may consider contracts with other counties in the future. He said transporting prisoners to Van Wert would require a drive of about four hours and added that the commissioners are seeking contracts with Noble and Monroe counties, closer to home.

“At this point, we’re looking into three other counties also, and they’re more local. … We’re putting these agreements into effect as a backup. That way, if things do get heavily populated out there, we’ll have these agreements in place,” Meyer said.

If necessary, he said, the county may house 15 female inmates outside of Belmont County at any given time, depending on their sentences and the population of the jail. He added that he believes the male population has remained about the same in recent months.

Despite the fact that the jail is staffed by as few as five officers per shift, Lucas said his department accounts for more than a quarter of the county’s total budget. Those low staffing numbers are also leading to a high rate of employee turnover, because “we are beating them up,” Lucas said. He also noted that staffing the jail is a dangerous job, noting that inmates have recently created “shanks” and acquired razors and cables that could be used as weapons.

“All they have inside there is time,” Lucas said of the inmates.

Richard Hord of Martins Ferry asked commissioners what measures they are considering to address overcrowding at the jail.

“We work in conjuction with the sheriff. I think there also needs to be communication that needs to take place between the sheriff, the judges and the prosecutor,” Meyer said. “Will that answer the problem? No. Not completely. It might help alleviate some of the problem. At the and of the day, crime seems to be on the rise.”

Lucas agreed and told Rotary members that illegal drug use continues to lead to many arrests.

“The situation has become so dangerous that people’s lives are at risk,” Meyer said.