The sheriff is charged with the responsibility of maintaining the public peace and protecting the lives and property of all citizens in Stark County. His obligations and responsibilities have continuously grown throughout the years. The duties of the sheriff have increased as administrative procedures, court decisions, and requirements of the law have brought about sophisticated and technical advancements to law enforcement. The Stark County Sheriff's Office has five basic divisions which perform the varied duties required by Ohio law and the criminal justice system. These divisions are:
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DIVISION
COURT SERVICES DIVISION
JAIL DIVISION
OPERATIONS DIVISION
STAFF SERVICES DIVISION
Contact Information
Stark County Sheriff's Office, 4500 Atlantic Blvd. N.E., Canton, Ohio 44705 Tel: 430-3800 FAX: 430-3844 Internet: http://starkcountyohio.gov/sheriff
Sheriffs of Stark County
1809-1811 Joseph McGuin 1811-1813 Thomas C Shields 1814 John Patton 1815 D.L. McClure 1816-1819 Moses Andrews 1820-1825 John Augustine 1826-1827 Timothy Reed 1828-1829 John Casky 1830-1832 Henry Guise 1833-1836 George N Webb 1837-1840 D. Raffensperger 1841-1844 John Brandon 1845-1846 Henry Shanafelt 1847-1850 George N Webb 1851-1854 Peter Deshong 1855-1856 R.A. Dunbar 1857-1860 Samuel Beatty 1861-1862 Daniel Sayler 1863-1866 Peter Chance 1867-1870 R.A. Dunbar 1871-1874 William Baxter 1875-1880 John P Rauch 1881-1884 Henry Alterkruse 1884-1885 James Lee 1886-1890 Augustus Leininger 1891-1893 Charles A Krider 1894-1897 Hiram Doll 1898-1901 John J Zaiser 1902-1905 Frank McKinney 1906-1910 R Frank Wilson 1911-1914 Adam W Oberlin 1915-1918 Frank K Norwood 1919-1922 Milo W Cathon 1923-1926 Charles W Kirk 1927-1931 Edward Gibson 1932-1933 Roscoe Oberlin 1934-1935 George A Daily 1936-1941 Joseph T Nist 1942-1949 Richard R France 1950-1959 Harry W Grossglaus 1959-1967 Wilton L Hine 1967-1980 George Papadopulos 1981-1984 Robert C Berens 1985-1992 J Babe Stearn 1993-1999 W Bruce Umpleby 1999-2013 Timothy A Swanson 2013 Michael McDonald 2013–Present George T Maier The current Sheriff is George T. Maier, who was appointed by the Democratic party to replace Michael A. McDonald because of McDonald's failing health. Sheriff George T. Maier, was elected to the post of County Sheriff in November 2014 to fill the unexpired term of Michael McDonald. Sheriff George T. Maier was again elected to a 4-year term November 2016.
A local woman, Hope Steffey, sued the Sheriff's Office, claiming that male and female deputies used excessive force and assaulted her when they stripped her naked after she was arrested. Hope Steffey had called the police after she had been assaulted. Television station WKYC obtained video of the incident from Hope Steffey's attorney, shows male and female deputies forcefully removing the clothing of the handcuffed woman, before leaving her to sit naked in a cell for six hours. Police allege that Steffey had threatened to harm herself when asked if she was suicidal, to which she replied in the affirmative. Around November 2008, Hope Steffey initiated civil action against the Sheriff's Office. Stark County agreed to pay Steffey $475,000 in an out-of-court settlement in July 2009. Additional actions against related civilian contractors were later dismissed by the court. Former Attorney General Marc Dann launched the state investigation into the Steffey case in February 2008 before later resigning for unrelated reasons. A Grand Jury subsequently declined to indict the county deputies involved.
Valentina Dyshko incident
Valentina Dyshko, a Ukrainian woman with limited English capability, filed suit alleging that she was the victim of a strip search by male officers at the Stark County Jail. This case was reportedly settled by the county in 2008.
Further victims and allegations
During the Steffey case, it was reported that 128 women had experienced these alleged strip searches, between 1999 and 2007. Privacy concerns prevented the identification of these women which led Steffey's lawyers to use billboards to encourage other women to come forward. Following the billboards and media reporting on the incident, five women, including Valentina Dyshko, came forward to report similar experiences with Stark County Sheriff's personnel. One of these women, "Elizabeth", was employed in a medium security jail and reported being accused of suicidal behavior and strip searched after being arrested for defending herself against inappropriate touching by a sheriff deputy during a traffic stop after she changed lanes without signaling. The sheriff accused her of failing a breath test when her asthma prevented her from blowing with sufficient strength. Only one case proceeded out of these five.
