The Butler County Prison Board made the right decision Tuesday, requiring approval from both that board and the county commissioners before anyone is offered employment at the prison.

The decision is correct in light of some negative public perception involving the hiring of 19 people for prison guard duties. Ten of the people hired are related to county or court employees. Two have close connections to Judges Timothy McCune and Michael Yeager and another is related to county chief clerk Bill O'Donnell.

It's understandable that some people might question how, with nearly 300 applicants for the 19 positions, more than half of the new hires ended up having ties, though some connections are not particularly close, to people already working for the county.

That observation is not to question the qualifications of the 10 people with county employee ties. It would be foolish for the county to hire any unqualified person for such an important, sometimes dangerous, position — regardless of who they are or to whom they are related.

Nonetheless, the change in the hiring policy will provide a two-tiered hiring process capable of anticipating and resolving potential hiring issues. Most importantly, it seems to put an end to retroactive hirings, which is what occurred in regard to the 19 new guards.

When the commissioners on May 6 ratified the hirings, those new guards already had been in training for two days.

Warden Rich Gigliotti hired the people prior to May 4.

The county salary board establishes the number of positions actually allocated for the various county departments, including the prison.

Under state law, the prison board, which includes the county commissioners, sheriff, controller, district attorney and one county judge — now Judge William Shaffer — is charged with hiring the prison staff. In the past, the hiring process was delegated to the commissioners.

Consistent with what is allowed under state law, Tuesday's action removes the full hiring process from the commissioners office, restoring the prison board's hiring role.

Again, probably the most important change, considering the commissioners' service on both boards, is that hiring decisions will be made before the successful applicants are officially offered positions. That will give both boards the opportunity to resolve any questions or issues that might be the basis for second-guessing after someone already is in training or working.

The makeup of the prison board ensures that there could be instances when that board and the board of commissioners do not agree on a hiring, although it is reasonable to believe that such instances would be rare. Nevertheless, the window for disagreement adds to the credibility of the hiring process.

In addition to the two boards, the county personnel office will continue to be involved in the interviewing and hiring process.

According to county policy, applicants neither qualify for a job nor are eliminated from consideration due to a relative already being employed by the county. That is as it should be.

Likewise, the county policy is correct prohibiting an employee from being supervised by a relative, or from having his or her time sheet signed by a relative.

The changes to the hiring policy should minimize negative perceptions such as those evoked by the hiring of the 10 relatives.

Those hirings didn't provoke a groundswell of public anger but in some locales there might have been questions raised over what, at first blush, looked like insider favoritism.

County officials should ensure that all actions can withstand scrutiny. The changes in the hiring process will help to achieve that objective.

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