When it comes to sharing, Clermont County Sheriff Tim Rodenberg said that he draws the line at inmates.

In a recent letter, Sheriff Rodenberg outlined his argument against renting jail space to other counties, noting in it a strong financial and social drawback to the concept.

“People have called lately and some citizens have asked me why we don’t try this,” said Sheriff Rodenberg. “This was looked at in some detail back in the fall. I talked to Sheriff Leis myself and he didn’t like the idea either. This isn’t a permanent solution, it’s just a bandaid approach. If you need jail beds, you need them in your county.”

Last year, an announcement made news that Hamilton County was examining renting jail space in Clermont County. Clermont County currently suffers from an odd situation. The new jail is actually underfilled, but, due to the cost of staffing and running the facility, a portion of the jail is shut off, resulting in an actual shortage of jail space in the county. In Hamilton County, there is a shortage of jail space resulting from a lack of actual space to house inmates.