Since January 2023, the sheriff’s office has reported at least 12 deaths among people in custody.
The March 2025 death of 25-year-old Christian Black resulted in a $7 million settlement between the county and Black’s family. This November, the deaths of two men in jail custody were also reported: Quintin Forest, 29, and Edgar Keiter Jr., 53.
According to the three-body county commission, the Ohio Revised Code gives county commissioners oversight of the physical structure of their county jail facility. Operational oversight falls under the county sheriff’s office. Oversight of the jail also falls under the Ohio Bureau of Adult Detention, Public Health – Dayton & Montgomery County, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Montgomery County Grand Jury.
McDonald called on those departments to “fully exercise their authority, conduct comprehensive reviews, and share their findings with the public.”
“This is about ensuring that every system responsible for the safety of people in custody is functioning the way it should,” McDonald said.
Montgomery County Commission President Judy Dodge said this week that McDonald’s statement “does not represent the Board of County Commissioners.” Dodge directed questions from this news outlet to McDonald’s office.
McDonald agreed that she was speaking only for herself, saying: “I believe it is important for each commissioner to speak openly and transparently about matters that affect the safety and wellbeing of our residents.”
Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck said agencies with oversight authority of the jail conduct regular inspections of the facility.
“The Sheriff’s Office continues to provide full cooperation with each agency in their review of jail operations,” Streck said in a statement to this news outlet. “Transparency, accountability, and compliance remain central to how we operate. We welcome these inspections and remain committed to meeting the expectations and standards of the community we serve.”
McDonald said she feels impacted families and the community deserve transparency and accountability.
“Any death in our county jail is tragic, and my heart goes out to those who are grieving,” she said.
The Montgomery County Jail Coalition, a grassroots group concerned with safety at the county’s jail, earlier this year requested the commission consider establishing a civilian oversight group tasked with reviewing jail operations and reporting those findings back to the public.
“The Jail Coalition welcomes the commissioner’s compassionate and powerful statement. We remain committed to the demand for civilian oversight. If existing forms of oversight were adequate, violence, neglect, and death in the jail would not be so common,” the coalition said in a statement to this news outlet. “We look forward to working with Commissioner McDonald and others in order to find creative, collaborative, and effective solutions to this critical problem of concern to county residents.”
The commission in August said “they could not legally” create an independent oversight body for the jail.
“The Sheriff and State Legislature are the only authorities that can allow for changes in operational oversight,” the county said in a statement to news outlets and on their social media platforms.
Montgomery County officials in 2023 announced a $20 million renovation project at the Montgomery County Jail that will create more than 100 medical beds for inmates. Construction for that effort began this fall.
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