Lucas County Sheriff
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Sheriff James A. Telb, Ph. D.
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A Message from Sheriff James A. Telb
As Sheriff of Lucas County, I would like to welcome you to the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office website. It is my hope that this website will be used as an information resource for the citizens of Lucas County, as well as our visitors worldwide.
The Office of the Sheriff is unique among law enforcement organizations. The Sheriff is the only elected law enforcement official in the State of Ohio. The Sheriff is elected/re-elected every four years. This allows the Sheriff, his record, and the way in which he operates his Office to be accountable to the citizens and the voters of the county in which he serves. It is the only remaining law enforcement position in the United States that is filled through the electoral process.
In the State of Ohio, the Sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer in each county. Therefore, as Sheriff of Lucas County, I have a vast amount of responsibility to the citizens I serve. As outlined in Section 311.07 of the Ohio Revised Code, I must provide the following services: Law Enforcement, Court Security, Service of Papers, Jail Operations, Extradition Process and Transportation of Prisoners. Further, I maintain full police jurisdiction in all the municipalities, villages and townships within Lucas County.
The Lucas County Sheriff’s Office employs approximately 515 individuals. These individuals carry-out a vast array of complex duties, including corrections officers, deputy sheriffs, deputy clerks, 9-1-1 call takers, dispatchers, medical staff, and clerical staff. The Sheriff’s Office has been computerized with state of the art equipment to assist the officers in meeting the demands of their assignments.
The Lucas County Sheriff’s Office operates a full service Law Enforcement Division which is comprised of the following sections: Field Operations, Records Bureau, Communications Section, and Investigative Services. Deputies patrol approximately 249.46 miles of county roads, 224.44 miles of township roads, and 66.05 miles of state roads. The Lucas County Sheriff’s Office has patrol units patrolling the housing complexes which make up the Lucas County Metropolitan Housing Authority. Officers are assigned to various task forces, including the Northwest Ohio Sheriffs’ Task Force, Northwest Ohio Violent Crimes/Fugitive Task Force, Joint Terrorism Task Force, Toledo Metro Drug Task Force, Arson Response Team, and the Domestic Violence Task Force. In an attempt to make our officers more accessible to the citizens we serve, the number of sub-stations has increased from one to seven.
Over the past twenty (20) years, the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office has developed and maintained a Marine Patrol, K-9 Unit, Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) Program, Critical Incident Response Team (C.I.R.T.), and the Lucas County Block Watch.
The Lucas County Sheriff’s Office has one officer assigned full-time to Domestic Violence issues. Officers work hand-in-hand with the Lucas County Child Support Enforcement Agency to crack down on those individuals owing child support. Three full time deputy sheriffs are investigating and tracking down those individuals that owe money for support of their children.
The Sheriff’s Office is responsible for dispatching calls for six (6) area police agencies, and six (6) area fire departments. The Communications Section is responsible for all radio traffic involving these units. All 9-1-1 calls for service are handled by this Section. All Lucas County patrol vehicles are equipped with mobile data terminals (MDT). These MDTs are utilized to relay pertinent information between the dispatchers and the patrol officer. The MDTs also allow the patrol officer to query information from the Ohio Law Enforcement Automated Data System (L.E.A.D.S.), National Crime Information Center (N.C.I.C.) and the Northwest Ohio Regional Information System (N.O.R.I.S) from the vehicles.
The Records Section is responsible for maintaining all General Offense Reports and Citations generated by the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office. The Record Section enters and maintains all Lucas County Common Pleas Court warrants, as well as warrants from the suburban courts. All sex offender registration and concealed firearm registration is handled in this Section.
The Lucas County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the Ohio Attorney General, is taking part in a pilot program which allows the citizens of Lucas County to be notified of a sex offender living within 1,200 feet of their residence. Electronic Sex Offender Registration Notification (ESORN) allows citizens to access this information at will.
Another technological resource which is utilized by the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office is the Technology To Recover Abducted Kids System (T.R.A.K.). T.R.A.K. was originally designed to aid law enforcement in locating abducted children. However, T.R.A.K. has been utilized successfully in other types of cases as well. T.R.A.K. allows officers to create high resolution photo bulletins and electronically send them to other agencies, the media and the community. The Lucas County Sheriff’s Office developed and promoted the T.R.A.K. system in this region by supplying twenty-one (21) T.R.A.K. computers and software packages to three (3) adjacent counties in Michigan, six (6) adjacent Ohio counties, as well as all of the police agencies within Lucas County. The T.R.A.K. system is a link to the Ohio, Michigan, and national AMBER Alert System.
The Lucas County Sheriff’s Office Schools Program is three-fold. Officers are assigned to Building and Grounds Security and In-School Reassignment programs. Building and Grounds Security is responsible for providing first-line security in the school and its perimeter. In-School Reassignment Officers are responsible for supervising student participation during in-school reassignment which is in lieu of suspension from school. Deputies also provide classroom instruction on various safety and crime prevention subjects, including D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) to thousands of students each year. The officers act as role models and mentors for students and encourage positive behavior and relationships.
The Lucas County Correction Center is located at 1622 Spielbusch Avenue, Toledo, Ohio. As outlined in the Ohio Revised Code, the Sheriff is responsible for the county jail and all individuals housed within. Since 1985, the jail capacity has increased from 340 beds to 432 beds. During this time, many initiatives have taken place, including the establishment of the Sober Living Program and mental health programs. In an attempt to enhance and expedite the prisoner processing and criminal identification of offenders, the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office obtained the latest technology mugshot system and participate in the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (A.F.I.S.)
The Lucas County Sheriff’s Office maintains an Auxiliary which has approximately 70 members who volunteer their time to assist the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office in various tasks, and numerous community services (5,000 – 6,000 hours annually).
A ceremonial Honor Guard and Bagpipe Corp. have been established and utilized community-wide. The Honor Guard and Bagpipe Corp. serve at funerals, award ceremonies, memorial services, opening ceremonies and a variety of other community events. There is much demand for these units in the community.
I am proud of the men and women who make up the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office. They do a fantastic job for the citizens of Lucas County.
If you have any questions or comments, please relay them to my Office at 419-213-4908 or via e-mail at AGrzech@co.lucas.oh.us.
James A. Telb, Ph.D.
Sheriff of Lucas County
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