State lawmakers visited an inmate at the Ohio Penitentiary in Youngstown due to concerns for his safety. The inmate had been accused of killing a corrections officer in Chillicothe on Christmas Day.
“It was an event where a person just decided to kill another person,” Director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections Annette Chambers-Smith testified to state lawmakers this month. “I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to always stop that.”
Last week, the Youngstown prison in Ohio received an unannounced visit from the Correctional Institution Inspection Committee. A memo detailing the visit was released on Thursday. It is important to note that the Youngstown prison is where inmate Rashawn Cannon was transferred after being accused of beating Officer Andrew Lansing to death at the Ross Correctional Institute in Chillicothe back in December. The severity of the beating was such that Officer Lansing was left unrecognizable.
“I informed inmate Cannon about the CIIC and why we were there,” CIIC Executive Director Christopher Albanese wrote. “I asked inmate Cannon to show us his arms, hands, face up close, and asked him to lift his pant legs and shirt then turn around. Inmate Cannon complied with the requests. No signs of abuse were observed.”
The committee inquired about inmate Cannon’s well-being.
“Inmate Cannon stated his cell was too cold and the recreation space was too warm,” Albanese reported to the committee.
The death of Lansing has brought attention to the staffing levels in the state’s correctional facilities. According to a state representative from Ross County, Lansing’s overtime shift on the day of his death was not an uncommon occurrence.
“To me, it is troubling,” Rep. Mark Johnson (R-Chillicothe) said in a House of Representatives Finance Committee hearing this month. “Andrew Lansing had been working 16-hour days, every day, for a long, long time.”
In 2024, Lansing earned over $164,000 in his role at the Ross Correctional Institute, as per state records. A significant portion of this amount, specifically $85,000, was accumulated through overtime.
On Friday, CIIC is expected to release a series of recommendations addressing the staffing shortage within the ODRC.