LEAVITTSBURG, Ohio — Prosecutors have not brought charges against inmates even though assaults on prison guards have increased slightly at the state's Trumbull Correctional Institution, union officials representing corrections officers say.

        The prison has had 51 reported assaults on corrections officers in the last three years, said Walt Patterson, president of the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association Local 11. Fifteen were reported in 1999, 17 in 2000 and 19 in 2001 at the prison 16 miles northwest of Youngstown.

        Though the increase is slight, Mr. Patterson said he fears it may indicate that prisoners are becoming “brave” because they think they will not be charged for assaulting officers.

        Mr. Patterson said he wants the Trumbull County Prosecutor's office to pursue assault charges so they will go on inmates' criminal records. Currently, inmates accused of assaulting guards can be punished by the prison's rules and infractions board. Punishments include solitary confinement, losing privileges and extra prison time.

        County Assistant Prosecutor Chuck Morrow said he assesses claims of assault on a case-by-case basis.

        “We don't have a blanket policy in determining assault charges,” he told the Warren Tribune Chronicle for a story Monday.

        Mr. Morrow could not be reached Monday for additional comment. A phone call seeking comment was made to the county prosecutor's office.

        The Ohio State Highway Patrol conducts criminal investigations for each alleged assault, then presents a report to the prosecutor's office, said patrol spokesman Lt. Gary Lewis.

        Lt. Lewis said Monday that prosecutors make the final decision whether to press charges, present the evidence to a grand jury or not to follow up on a case.

        Julius Wilson, the prison's warden, said that while he was upset at the increase in assaults, corrections officers have “maintained good order here and the public's safety is not in jeopardy.”

        Bob Gordon, a former guard at the prison, said he still has flashbacks about when he was attacked Aug. 20.

        He said two inmates, who were brothers, attacked him when he went into their cell to search for contraband. He said one of the inmates knocked him unconscious and when he came to, they were beating him.

        Mr. Gordon has been on disability leave since then and sees a chiropractor three times a week. He is scheduled for back surgery in March.

        “I thought I was dead that day in that cell,” he said.

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