On any given night, about 16,500 people are held in Ohio’s 89 jails and jailers book about 300,000 people each year – though some of them may be booked in multiple times.

Jails are not the same as prisons. They are temporary holding facilities for people who are just arrested, awaiting court appearances, held pretrial on bonds or serving short-term sentences.

Elected county sheriffs run most of the 89 full-service jails in Ohio. A handful are operated by a regional board or by a city police department.

Where is the largest jail in Ohio?

The four busiest jail systems in the state are in Franklin, Cuyahoga, Hamilton and Montgomery counties. Combined, they booked 76,000 people in 2022.

Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin closed the downtown Columbus jail, opened a new facility on Fisher Road and continues to operate a lockup on Jackson Pike.

Who oversees the Ohio jail system?

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction inspects jails to make sure they’re complying with 181 minimum standards. But the state doesn’t investigate misconduct or wrongdoing. The inspection system is more regulatory than enforcement focused.

If there is a death in custody, it is required to be reported to state officials within 24 hours. State inspectors, then, check to see if the jail was complying with the standards.

Ohio, at least, knows how many people die in its jails and prisons each year. But nationwide, federal authorities have failed to collect data from state and local agencies about deaths in custody.

Often the sheriff’s department investigates what happened, though in some instances the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is asked to investigate.

Who is in jail?

A national survey by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics found that in 2021 jail populations are 49% white, 35% Black, and 14% Hispanic. Nearly 87% of those incarcerated are male.

Seventy-one percent of those in jail are not convicted of any crime − they are awaiting court action or being held for another reason. The average length of a jail stay is 33 days.

Jails experience more churn. In Lorain County, for example, the jail holds 422 people: 40% are released within 24 hours, 60% of inmates leave within five days, and 75% of inmates stay less than 10 days. A study found that 37% of the people accounted for 65% of the bookings, meaning many people return to jail.

Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio jails house 300,000 a year. How does the system work?