MANSFIELD — The Richland County Sheriff’s Office is just five people short of being fully staffed, according to RSCO Maj. Jim Sweat.
That includes staffing at the Richland County Jail, which Sweat said is four corrections officers short of a full jail staff. He said the RSCO is one person short in the communications center.
“We’ve been truly blessed. The Sheriff (Steve Sheldon) is a great man to work for. He takes care of us and his employees and we feel we have a great organization,” Sweat said. “That’s why we’re able to be (nearly) fully staffed.
“A lot of that comes down to the (Richland County Board of) Commissioners and their ability to fund us at the levels that have been required for our infrastructure, support, equipment and services we provide.”
Commissioner Tony Vero said current RCSO staffing levels are the best they’ve been in years.
As a 24/7 operation, Vero said several jail staffers had to work excess hours when staffing was previously lower. The ability to climb back to “normalcy” as far as “work-life balance” for those employees is significant, he said.
“We have a duty when they’re (inmates) in the care and custody of Richland County to provide the best service possible,” Vero said. “When you’re fully staffed, it allows Richland County to do that.”
Sheldon said at one point, around the time of COVID-19, RCSO was understaffed by about 25 officers. Most officers at that time were working 12-hour shifts to compensate, he said.
“We can manage with four (officers) short,” Sheldon said. “It creates a little bit of overtime, but it’s not that bad.”
Sheldon, Sweat and Vero also credited the efforts of Capt. Dave Blake, Richland County Jail administrator, to implement several capital improvement projects at the jail.
Blake took over the top spot at the 266-bed county corrections facility in April 2025. He previously spent the past 47 years with the Ashland County Sheriff’s office, starting as a civilian dispatcher in 1978.
He graduated from the peace officer academy in 1980, when he began working in the Ashland County Jail.