HAMILTON, Ohio — Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones took to the department's social media in a live address Wednesday to defend the way he handles both local inmates and ICE detainees.
His address comes a day after Democratic Columbus-area lawmakers wrote a letter to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (ODRC) demanding increased scrutiny of jail practices.
Jones began by referencing the letter as "the dumbest thing I've ever seen in my life."
The letter requested increased unannounced inspections by ODRC officials and lawmakers to address what Rep. Mark Sigrist (D-Grove City), Rep. Christine Cockley (D-Columbus) and Sen. Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) described as potential overcrowding within county facilities, inefficient heating for winter weather and the use of "warden burgers" as punishment for inmates.
WATCH: We talk to lawmakers Sheriff Jones called "the three stooges" over calls for increased inspections
The jail was cited for feeding warden burgers after a July ODRC inspection report. The report said administrative code mandates that all inmates "are to be served the same meal unless the inmate uses food or food service equipment in a manner that is hazardous to self, staff, or other inmates."
Jones defended the punishment in Wednesday's address.
"You don't like it? It's not your mommy or your daddy making your meal? It's jail. You get that when you get in trouble in jail," Jones said.
The sheriff said he hoped the lawmakers were watching his address.
"I call them the three stooges," he said.
DeMora said he was watching.
"He can call me all the names he wants to. I think he's a circus act as far as I'm concerned," DeMora said.
DeMora said he pulled numbers straight from the jail's website showing more than 1,000 inmates detained in the jail, which he said exceeded capacity by around 200 people.
Jones said he was actually under capacity and could add another 200 inmates if necessary.
When we reviewed jail records from July's ODRC inspections, the state found there were 149 inmates in the Court Street facility with a capacity of 149, 805 inmates in the corrections complex with a capacity of 844 and 0 inmates in the resolutions center with a capacity of 245.
The suggested state's "recommended" capacity at the corrections complex was 756, or 49 lower than what inspectors found.
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The only non-compliance found within the jail in all three inspections was the use of warden burgers.
We asked DeMora whether he believed the reports issued by ODRC.
"I want to see it for myself," he told us.
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Jones said he was inspected again on Dec. 22. On Thursday, we received the review, which says there were no areas of concern or non-compliance.
The findings from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction say a review of the daily population count logs for all three of the department's facilities indicated the inmate populations were "at or below the Bureau's Recommended Capacity," noting that the facility operates under an annually approved variance that adds beds to its capacity.
At the time of the inspection, there were 797 inmates at the Butler County Correctional Complex. With the variance, its total capacity is set at 850. Additionally, the findings say the medical staff "provided care consistent with the applicable Standards for Jails in Ohio."
We reached out to Jones's team Wednesday. They did not provide additional comment on the situation.
Addressing the lawmakers, Jones said, "I'm not afraid of you. Good luck, and have a nice day."
Sigrist and Cockley responded to our request for a reaction to Jones's comments with written statements.
Cockley posted her response on Facebook.
"Sheriff Jones likes to talk tough on social media, but when a light is held up to the conditions at his jail, he can’t take the heat," she wrote. "If the conditions at the jail meet all of Ohio's standards, as he says they do, he should have no problem with the requests made in our letter or with letting myself and my colleagues in for a tour of the facility.
"If he continues to deflect and call old-fashioned names on social media, I think we can all guess who is really telling the truth. The Three Stooges? Surely he can come up with something better than that."
Sigrist sent us this in a text:
“The publicly available information on the daily population posted included detainee counts for an additional two smaller detention facilities where detainees are also being held. In light of the increased arrests in Columbus due to Operation Buckeye, the total count of detainees in Butler County has increased. Due to vagueness on the Butler County website there is no way to publicly confirm total capacity at each facility. In August of 2025, it was reported that the main facility was 50+ persons over capacity. Since then we know more people have been put into detention in Butler County. We are simply calling on ODRC and Sheriff Jones to provide clarity on current capacity and the conditions at each facility to insure the State of Ohio is in compliance. The information that is publicly available is not accurate which is why we have made these requests.”
