The Athens County charges were dismissed “in the interests of justice” on Nov. 14, according to the Athens Independent. However, they remained in ICE custody at the Butler County Jail until the agency transferred them, and they are currently in the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown.
Hamilton business owner Biz Jarvis had concerns about the 50-year-old man with Down syndrome being detained by ICE. On the Butler County Jail records, it appeared the ICE hold was the only reason he was being detained. She expressed concern for the man.
The Butler County Sheriff’s Office renewed its contract with ICE in late February, but the office also has contracts with the U.S. Marshal’s Office, as well as police agencies, to hold prisoners.
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
“What is he going to do when he gets to wherever they’re deporting him?” she asked on a social media video.
But that man is not the only person with a developmental disability in the Butler County Jail. Sheriff Richard Jones said whoever is staying in any one of his jail facilities (there are three in Hamilton that collectively house more than 1,000 inmates at any one time) will receive the necessary and appropriate care.
Hundreds of inmates, he said, have some type of developmental disability or struggle with mental health. Whether if it’s at the main jail facility on Hanover, the Court Street Jail in downtown or Resolutions on South Second Street, Jones said medical needs do not go unaddressed.
The main jail’s medical wing was expanded earlier this year, including having eight “negative pressure cells,” which are specialized medical isolation rooms designed with a lower air pressure than adjacent areas to contain airborne contaminants and prevent the spread of infectious diseases. The warden believes they have the most negative pressure cells in the state.
Jones said he believes there could be as many as a third of the jail population who have some type of developmental disability or struggle with mental health. Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser said he believes it could be more than half. However, Butler County Jail Warden Kevin Grathwohl said that’s a tricky and impossible number to calculate as it’s not a statistic the jail is required to track.
But they do track money spent. The Butler County Sheriff’s Office has not only invested in its medical wing with the physical construction, but has seen significant increases with pharmacy, medical supplies and services, spending $746,900 in 2025, which is more than $214,000 over 2024 spending, according to the finance office for the sheriff’s office.
“Not every individual is the same,” the warden said, adding they work to find out as much information about a person as they can, including if someone has a caseworker. “Then what we do is to put them in the environment that we have. We get put into positions that we have to accept them. But we have good teams where that we can do assessments. We find out what is best to ensure proper care, then we do it.”
Gmoser confirmed the care, saying despite being charged with or convicted of a crime, “You deserve to get good care wherever you are retained.” That also is the case in the courtroom, the prosecutor said.
“It’s not just one-size-fits-all,” Gmoser said. “Every case has some little difference to it. Maybe they’re treated similarly, but the ones that need different types of treatment is recognized by the sheriff and his staff.”
Iman Ayman Soliman, the former Cincinnati Children’s Hospital chaplain detained by ICE and housed in the Butler County Jail, recently talked about his experience in the Butler County Jail, where he said for 73 days he never saw sunlight or breathed fresh air, according to our news partner WCPO. He also said he never ate a raw vegetable or fruit.
Jones said all inmates are given time out in the “yard” and are also provided fruits and vegetables during meals, but they are not raw.
“My experience with ICE was very different than my experience with the Butler County jail,” Soliman said.
The sheriff, his staff and Gmoser said there is no mistreatment in the Butler County Jail. Jones said they just may not like the accommodations.
While some have complained about the jail facilities, Gmoser said a grand jury regularly inspects the jails. Additionally, the three Butler County jail facilities are annually inspected, including by the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Department of Corrections. The July 2025 inspection by the Ohio Department of Corrections declared the facilities “compliant,” but the jail was dinged on serving a “warden burger” — a meatloaf-like sandwich made with ground turkey, oatmeal, cabbage and other vegetables — to inmates in disciplinary isolation.
Grathwohl said the jail staff is “put into positions” where they must accept every inmate that comes into their facility, “but we have good teams that we can do assessments,” and inmates are given around-the-clock care and can see the doctor typically faster than someone not on jail.
“We find out what is best to ensure proper care, then we do it,” he said. “We tend to put them in a place that is most stimulating to them to make them feel comfortable,” he added.
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