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Ohio prisons short hundreds of corrections officers, led by Dayton prison
• The story: Ohio’s state prisons ended 2025 more than 500 corrections officers below full staffing, with 7.4% of all budgeted positions sitting vacant and nine of Ohio’s 24 prisons posting vacancy rates above 10%, a Dayton Daily News investigation found.
• The records: The Dayton Daily News obtained staffing records from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections as state legislators look to implement reforms to address staffing shortages in Ohio’s prisons, saying they put correctional officers at risk. The obtained records compare ODRC’s budgeted correctional officer positions to how many COs were actually employed at the end of the past five years.
• Local figures: Dayton Correctional Institution stands out as having the highest vacancy rate in the state, with 18.8% of its budgeted correctional officer positions unfilled at the end of 2025. Lebanon Correctional Institution and Warren Correctional Institution, the two other regional ODRC facilities, posted vacancy rates of 11.5% and 2.4%, respectively.
• Bigger picture: The data suggests Ohio has gotten better at staffing its penal institutions since a low point in 2022, when the ODRC finished the year with a 12.4% vacancy rate for correctional officer openings across the state. The year prior, 2021, ended with a 11.1% vacancy rate. Today, an ODRC spokesperson told us, Ohio’s vacancy rate is one of the best in the nation.
• Reform bill: Lawmakers have focused on increasing prison safety as a way to draw in more staff, with the primary architect of a prison reform bill suggesting that a lack of staff and a reliance on overtime, paired with a slate of safety issues within the state’s penal institutions, make Ohio’s prisons the “most dangerous places of employment, I believe, in the United States.”
Grid gripes: Feds, DeWine air concerns about data/AI power demand
• The story: As data centers and AI enterprises continue to use more electricity, federal government leaders, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and a group representing Ohio manufacturers all expressed unease on the same day about how the region’s electric grid manager operates.
• Rate of increase: Statements from all three were released Friday, sometimes within minutes of each other, expressing concerns that, as a statement from the U.S. Department of Interior put it, “electricity prices within the PJM market, which serves the Mid-Atlantic and parts of the Midwest, have risen faster than almost anywhere else in the country.” PJM is the Midwest’s electric grid operator, serving a region that includes Ohio.
• Demand: One concern particular to Ohio is that data centers are proliferating faster than states can build new power plants. The governors want PJM to allow generation sources to develop faster. DataCenterMap.com shows that the state has 192 data centers.
• DeWine: “Both across the nation and here in Ohio, energy demand is going up as economic development projects are increasing,” DeWine said in a statement urging PJM to allow generation sources to develop faster. “As governor, I support a proactive approach to increase energy supply and to protect consumers from rising costs.”
Local political news of the week
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
• Cross-walk talk: A handful of recent collisions involving students at crosswalks have drawn new attention to road and school zone safety in the Dayton area. Here’s the story from Samantha Wildow and Eileen McClory.
• Vetting: The Dayton city commission will review recommendations drafted by a working group formed by U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, including suggestions related to increasing police presence and enforcement, as well as social services. Here’s Sydney Dawes.
• Things to come: In this story, reporter Thomas Gnau talks with area business leaders to get a sense of what 2026 could bring for the region’s economy.
State political news of the week
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
• Whistle blowing: A former whistleblower who went to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office in 2021 to report alleged misuse of hospital funds at Kettering Health says there’s still more to uncover after a new Dayton Daily News investigation found Kettering Health board members and their families received more than $3.2 million in “excess benefits.” Those stories are from Samantha Wildow and Josh Sweigart.
• Fraud fears: A Republican lawmaker, with support from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, announced another House bill that aims to add fraud-preventive steps to Ohio’s state-run, federally funded child care program, including a comprehensive camera monitoring system in daycares that receive tax dollars. Here’s my story.
• Acton: Ohio gubernatorial candidate and presumptive Democratic nominee Amy Acton visited Monroe Local Schools recently and spoke with high school students and administrators about their aspirations and concerns ahead of the midterm election this November. Here’s London Bishop.
National political news of the week
• Greenland: U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, one of several Republican lawmakers intent on reeling in President Donald Trump’s Greenland aspirations, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” recently that Trump does not have the authority to seize the Danish territory. Here’s Aimee Hancock.
• Tax returns: With tax filing season beginning soon, GOP leaders and the White House have suggested that many households may seen an additional $1,000 in their tax returns due to Trump policies. Here’s Cornelius Frolik.
• R&D: A package of federal funding bills approved by Congress recently includes millions of dollars for several Dayton-area projects, including city of Dayton water infrastructure funds, labs and research resources at the University of Dayton, and an education investment at Sinclair Community College. Here’s Jamie Dupree.
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