Cuyahoga County where 9 jail inmates have died names new interim sheriff as a search ensues for a permanent sheriff, the county jail in Cleveland dubbed one of the most notorious jails in the country.... By editor Kathy Wray Coleman of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read digital Black newspaper and Black blog

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief at Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read digital Black newspaper and Black blog. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Coleman is an experienced Black political reporter who covered the 2008 presidential election for the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio and the presidential elections in 2012 and 2016 As to the one-on-one interview by Coleman with Obama  CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.

 Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com -CLEVELAND, Ohio -  As a search committee looks for a permanent sheriff, Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish, who appoints the county sheriff per the county charter, has appointed a new acting sheriff after the interim sheriff appointed five hours earlier on Monday was demoted to second in command because he could not meet the residency requirement mandated under state law, a mandate that requires that the county sheriff live in the county at least a year prior to appointment.

Lt. Bryan Smith was appointed as interim sheriff Monday, but he only had the title for a few hours and was removed and replaced by Sgt David Schillings, a 15-year veteran with the sheriff's department, Schillings' appointment announced at the end of the day.

Schillings' appointment comes as nine inmates have died in a year in the county jail the sheriff runs.

Smith, who has worked for the county since 1997 and lives in neighboring Lorain County, will serve as interim chief deputy, second in command under Schillings.

Embattled Cuyahoga County
Executive Armond Biudish

 “After further reflection and discussion, and out of an abundance of caution, we chose to appoint Lt. Bryan Smith as the Interim Chief Deputy Sheriff and Sgt. David Schilling as the Interim Sheriff,” said Bill Mason, new chief of staff to Budish and a former county prosecutor.

Mason said the residency requirement is not applicable to interim sheriffs while others have argued otherwise, the chief of staff saying Smith was relieved as interim sheriff and replaced with Schillings as a precautionary measure. 

Smith  was set to make $117,000 annually, replacing Sheriff Clifford Pinkney, the county's  first Black sheriff who resigned Aug. 2 after four years as sheriff.

Pinkney's annual salary was $128,000

Former Cuyahoga County Sheriff
Clifford Pinkney

Pinkney's  departure follows the nine recent inmate deaths in the county jail and indictments this year of some five jail guards, one for allegedly contributing to an inmate's death.


He testified before county council days before he left the job, and by subpoena regarding the conditions in the county jail, and said he did not have ultimate authority over the jail as an appointed sheriff, and that his decisions were sometimes usurped.

Former jail director Ken Mills and former warden Eric Ivey, who is Black and was demoted to associate warden, have also been indicted, among other county affiliates.

Appointed rather than elected due to a voter-adopted change in county governance implemented in 2011 that replaced three county commissioners and the county elected offices with a county executive and 11-member county council, all but the still-elected judges and county prosecutor, the sheriff reports to the county executive and is confirmed by the county execute in conjunction with county council 

This is applicable also to the county clerk of courts, treasurer, auditor and fiscal officer, all of the positions elected until the change in county governance took effect, a governance change that followed an ongoing county public corruption probe that took off in 2008 and has seen a former county commissioner and auditor, two judges, MetroHealth Hospital administrators and doctors  imprisoned, among some  75 Democratic operatives prosecuted, mainly businessmen, some of them avoiding prison with plea deals, and not even a hand full of whom were completely exonerated.

Last November U.S. Marshals released a stinging report of the county jail, one of the most notorious jails in the country, and deemed the mistreatment of inmates, including rodent and roach infested facilities, the housing of pregnant women on the floor and assault on female and other inmates, inhumane and unconstitutional. 

County Council has put a charter amendment on the ballot for next year to give voters the option of giving it more direct authority over the sheriff, council members saying such ballot initiative takes care of too much power under the county executive while at the same time not returning to an elected sheriff who can perpetuate more corruption as was the case under disgraced former sheriff McFaul. 

Budish is in trouble after the FBI and other authorities raided his office twice this year, even confiscating  his cell phone, computer and other materials for an ongoing public corruption investigation

That FBI raid on the county executive, a Democrat in a  county where the Dems are a stronghold, was multi-faceted, sources say, with authorities searching for evidence relative to an ongoing county public corruption probe, and for answers as to why Budish and jail administrators allegedly ignored the inmate deaths until gaining the spotlight, the county jail now in the news as one of the nation's most notorious jail's. 

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief at Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read digital Black newspaper and Black blog. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Coleman is an experienced Black political reporter who covered the 2008 presidential election for the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio and the presidential elections in 2012 and 2016 As to the one-on-one interview by Coleman with Obama  CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.