Ohio lawmakers call for inspections at county jail accused of serving 'warden burgers'

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — On Tuesday, three Ohio state legislators -- State Rep. Christine Cockley (D-Columbus), State Rep. Mark Sigrist (D-Grove City), and State Sen. Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) -- sent an urgent letter to Annete Chambers-Smith, director of the Ohio Department of Corrections, requesting the implementation of immediate health and safety improvements for the Butler County Jail.

The jail on Hanover Street, in Hamilton, serves as a temporary detention center for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to hold subjects as they continue Operation Buckeye -- a surge of arrests in Columbus targeting suspected illegal immigrants spurred heavily by the Trump Administration.

It has been the source of ongoing investigations into overcrowding issues since before Operation Buckeye began in December 2025, including reports that inmates were denied proper nutrition and forced to eat "Warden Burgers," made of substandard scraps instead, according to the letter.

Specifically, the letter asks the director to:

• Implement unannounced inspections of the Butler County Jail focused on population levels, environmental conditions, medical care, and housing classifications legislators included in the inspections
• Conduct a full review of capacity and create an action plan to bring the facility back into compliance with recommended population limits within six months
• Identify and fix heating deficiencies so that all housing units meet basic health and safety standards throughout the winter
• Explain why ICE detainees are housed with the general population and detail what safeguards are in place to protect both groups
• Prepare a report on the state's potential legal liability related to current conditions and recommend strategies to reduce that risk

Our concerns are grounded in documented evidence of dangerous and deteriorating conditions discovered during a July 2025 inspection," the letter reads. "An ODRC report issued in August revealed that the Butler County facility was holding 805 inmates, which was 49 inmates over the state-recommended capacity of 756.

Rather than addressing this critical overcrowding issue, the facility has been accepting additional detainees since that time. The facility is holding 1,045 inmates, or 289 inmates over the state’s recommended capacity as of this writing.