Morrow County proclaims April 2026 'Second Chance Month'; resident shares reentry success

The Morrow County Board of Commissioners voted to proclaim April 2026 as Second Chance Month, citing reentry barriers and plans to increase public awareness and community support for formerly incarcerated individuals.

A commissioner read the proclamation in full, noting that the Reentry Tomorrow Coalition will host a resource fair on 04/22/2026 from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Morrow County Fairgrounds Youth Building, 195 South Main. The proclamation states that stable pathways to employment and housing reduce recidivism and benefit public safety and local economic resilience.

During public comment following the proclamation, a resident thanked the board and praised opening the meeting with scripture and prayer. Another speaker, who identified having previously committed a crime and having received treatment at Riverside Recovery, described their reentry and recovery: "I was in Morrow County Jail as well. I came home. I changed my life around... I'm trying to bring stuff to Morrow County for people like myself to kind of reiterate them into society." The speaker thanked county support services for aiding their recovery.

Why it matters: The proclamation is a formal statement of county support for reentry initiatives and signals upcoming local programming (the resource fair) intended to connect justice-involved residents with services.

Next steps: The proclamation was adopted on a unanimous roll call; the resource fair is scheduled for 04/22/2026 as noted in the text of the proclamation.

Attribution: Proclamation text was read into the record by a commissioner; public comments are direct quotes from meeting participants.