Vinton County has ushered in a new Sheriff for the first time in nearly 10 years.
A native-son of Ohio’s smallest county, Ryan C. Cain, 37, was sworn into the position on Monday. He takes the reins with nearly 17 years of experience, all of which was served in law enforcement in his home-county of Vinton.
In 2004, Cain started as a trainee with the Sheriff’s office. He was once a narcotics detective for the office, and rose through the ranks of Sergeant, to Lieutenant, and finally, Chief Deputy before becoming the Sheriff, according to his resume.
Cain met with the Guardian on Thursday and outlined his vision for his administration.
While Cain has worked for the citizens of Vinton County for nearly 20 years, now that he is the top law enforcement official, he said he hopes to improve the community for the better. One of those improvements includes moving the Sheriff’s office into a new building and hopefully, one day, building a county jail.
Planned for this year is moving the entire Sheriff’s office from a 100+ year building located behind the county Courthouse to a more expansive several thousand foot structure just outside McArthur. While the new building — which is known to locals as the home to Vinton Industries — will not immediately have a jail, the Sheriff said he hopes to address the county’s inability to house prisoners themselves in the immediate near future. Cain said that it’s a guessing game when his deputies arrest someone.
“We are part of the regional jail and it is 45 miles away,” Cain said. “It is full, and since they are full, almost all the surrounding counties are full. So that leaves us having to drive all the way to Monroe (which is a 2.5 hour drive one-way). We try to get them closer, but usually we get ‘no.’ It takes about an hour for a dispatcher to call all the jails around just to see if someone will hold.”
Cain hopes to fix the jail situation by exploring the options of building a jail in creative ways outside of taxes. Such ways may include grants and loans, which could be off-set by revenue generated by renting beds to other counties and inmate fees, he said.
Also on the Sheriff’s priority list is to address the drug epidemic. While the Sheriff is supportive of rehab, he said that more needs to be done for the county while crystal meth is making a comeback.
“Most rehabs that people end up going to won’t take someone right off the street because they are dirty [still have drugs in their system]. There’s a halt on the rehabilitation process because it takes them about two weeks to withdraw.”
The Sheriff said he hopes to create a jail facility where people can safely detox from their addictions and once stable, they are able to be transferred to a specialized facility to further their rehabilitation.
While Sheriff Cain is proud of his hometown, he said finding career-oriented law enforcement officers can have its challenges in rural Ohio.
“I would like to go out to the high school and recruit kids into this line of work. That goes for the fire departments, as well; they are staffed with volunteers. Kids are getting jobs at places like Kenworth, but what is hard for some to realize is that if there is not someone here to fill the shoes of those who are getting older, we’re going to be in a world hurt of one day.”
The Sheriff said he is always accepting applications and resumes from people interested in getting into law enforcement, and that includes those with experience, as well. In addition, Cain said he welcomes the community to get involved as volunteers and he is planning a citizens academy during his first term.