The Post and Courier The recent arrests of three inmates accused along with two of their girlfriends of sneaking contraband into the Cannon Detention Center showed smuggling continues to be a problem for jails despite screening visitors, packages and mail. In the case of the five charged with distributing narcotics and attempting to furnish inmates with contraband, authorities say the alleged smuggling ring stuffed cellphones and drugs into large saline bottles destined for t

The State - Columbia, SC I served on Columbia’s police chief search committee and am confident that we submitted an outstanding group of finalists to City Manager Teresa Wilson. I hope our mayor and City Council will take steps to ensure that our next chief is given the opportunity to succeed. This is not a sure thing. From the start, there have been attacks on the integrity of the search process; they are without basis. We reviewed dozens of highly qualified and experienced

The State COLUMBIA, SC — City Manager Teresa Wilson announced Wednesday the formation of a police chief search committee to help choose the city’s next top law enforcement officer. In announcing the committee members, Wilson said she wants to have an open and equitable search for a new chief to lead the Columbia Police Department. The five-member panel is expected to help narrow the pool of candidates who will be interviewed and to help with the interviews, she said. “As this

Jon E. Ozmint focuses on governmental and regulatory affairs, and crisis management at the federal, state and local levels. Prior to that he was the director of the S.C. Department of Corrections, deputy attorney general and chief prosecutor of the State Grand Jury, and general counsel for the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. As head of the SCDC, Ozmint spent eight years managing nearly 6000 employees and concluded his service as the fifth longest-serving p

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina is at risk for doing little more than warehousing inmates if state lawmakers don't make an investment in the Department of Corrections, Jon Ozmint warned Tuesday. The state's prisons are scraping by, running on less cash than any other system in the country. Inmates eat three meals a day for $1.51 each. Medical costs break down to $7.85 a day per inmate. Educational spending has been cut by half, while 20 percent more inmates are earning GEDs and vo

The Post and Courier These folks are shameless. This U.S. Justice Department refuses to enforce the Voting Rights Act against 'Black Panthers' standing at polling places, carrying weapons and hurling racial epithets; they refuse to enforce the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act and encourage states to disenfranchise military members by using 'waivers' to bypass that law; and they refuse to enforce immigration laws in 'sanctuary' cities that openly defy our laws while

Jon Ozmint will hand over the keys to the state prison system today, having spent eight years at the Corrections Department doing more with less. Much more. Provided inadequate funding in legislative budgets year after year, the Corrections director, an appointee of departing Gov. Mark Sanford, cut expenses where possible while maintaining security and actually making improvements. To the extent that his bare-bones budgets permitted, Mr. Ozmint enhanced educational and rehabi

The Post and Courier - Charleston, SC So far, the Federal Communications Commission has resisted reasonable requests to let states jam cell phone signals at prisons. Perhaps recently uncovered phone abuses will bring them to reason. In South Carolina prisons, inmates are using contraband phones to access Facebook, an online social networking system. They use their cell phones to take pictures and send information to friends who then post them on Facebook and offer indisputabl

The former director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections joined the president of Columbia International University for a television interview to talk about the impact of the CIU Prison Initiative. During his eight years as the corrections director, Jon Ozmint worked with CIU and its president Dr. Bill Jones to develop the Initiative that trains qualified inmates to be a positive influence throughout the prison system under the guidance of prison chaplains. Prison I

The Greenville News COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- The former chairman of Carolina Investors is being released from prison after serving less...

The Post and Courier COLUMBIA, S.C. - Corrections Director Jon Ozmint today was awarded the Order of the Palmetto, the state’s highest civilian honor that recognizes lifetime service to South Carolina and the nation, by formerGov. Mark Sanford. Before being appointed to run Corrections in 2003, Mr. Ozmint served on active duty with the U.S. Navy in the Judge Advocate General Corps. He continues to serve in the U.S. Navy Reserve as a Commander. Upon leaving active duty, Mr. Oz