A state law regarding jail construction requiring approval of two different groups could halt Cuyahoga County's plan for a facility in Garfield Heights.
, the county commissioners and a group consisting of the common pleas court clerk, the sheriff, the probate judge and one person appointed by that court each have to approve the plans by a majority vote.
Because of Cuyahoga County's executive system, County Executive Chris Ronayne and the council president in 2024, Pernel Jones, Jr., proposed a group made up of the county executive, council president and a third person jointly appointed by the executive and president.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O鈥橫alley said those two groups were never created and never voted on the proposal.
鈥淭he lack of such approvals renders the county鈥檚 commencement of this project illegal,鈥� wrote O鈥橫alley in a letter dated Thursday. 鈥淎ny expenditure of public funds that has occurred or that is in progress in furtherance of such project is likewise illegal.鈥�
The letter goes on to demand that the county "cease and desist from authorizing or otherwise making any expenditure of public funds鈥� to build the jail until the administration gets approval from those outside groups.
鈥淎ny public official authorizing or approving such expenditures faces the potential for personal liability,鈥� O鈥橫alley said.
by the county鈥檚 project manager, Jeff Appelbaum, the county has completed the design process, has begun preparing the site for construction and is preparing to issue bonds to pay for it.
, members began detailed discussions on issuing those bonds, totaling close to $1 billion, and have yet to receive a final price from the company building the jail.
A spokesperson for the county did not say whether work will stop at the jail site until the requirements laid out by O鈥橫alley are followed, but said the county is reviewing their options.
鈥淧rosecutor O鈥橫alley is intent on recklessly disrupting the day-to-day work of county government and wasting public money,鈥� Communications Director Kelly Woodard said. 鈥淯nfortunately, taxpayers will continue to suffer because of his antics.鈥�
鈥淐ounty Executive Chris Ronayne was clearly aware of the law that required this committee to meet and vote on the proposed jail," O'Malley added in a Friday statement. "He chose to ignore that law. I would be violating my oath of office if I allowed that to continue.鈥�
In the 2024 letter from Ronayne and Jones to judges, they said they planned to create the committee with the clerk of courts, a judge and the sheriff 鈥渁s soon as possible鈥� but goes on to list scheduled meetings that were cancelled by court representatives.
According to Cuyahoga County Councilmember Michael Gallagher, who chairs the public safety committee, work to prepare the jail site in Garfield Heights started this week.
Gallagher was also part of a steering committee central to jail and courthouse planning, which was disbanded when Ronayne took office in 2023.
鈥淜eep in mind the site was really a kind of a tainted site because there was a shopping mall of some sort there,鈥� Gallagher said. 鈥淪o, that had to be remediated. And a lot of that work was done, but as far as moving dirt and everything else, that just started.鈥�
Gallagher said council will leave the debate over forming a committee to the lawyers but assumes it鈥檒l have to be done now.
He was a supporter of the steering committee鈥檚 original proposed plan to build a jail in Cleveland, which was ultimately rejected by the committee in 2022 after a report on the history of contamination at the site. Ronayne also opposed the plan while running for county executive in 2022.
鈥淲e handed him a $700 million jail and a $700 million Justice Center, all in about $2 billion, a little over $2 billion," Gallagher said. "He has now handed us a $2 billion jail [including the cost of paying the interest on the bonds] with no plan going forward for the Justice Center that I can see, but I don't know what they're doing because they're not readily sharing most anything with us.鈥�
