Fact check: Photos show luxury amenities, not Ohio county jail interior
Nayeli LomeliThe claim: Images show a jail in Cincinnati with an arcade, lounge and basketball court
Americans may not associate jail time with playing video games in an arcade or shooting hoops on a basketball court. But one popular post on Facebook claims these are just a couple of the amenities offered at a county jail in Ohio.
"Hamilton County Justice Center , **Cincinnati OH," reads text in the Nov. 18 post, which features photos of an arcade, a lounge and a basketball court, among other amenities.
The post accumulated more than 1,400 interactions within five days.
But a spokesperson for the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office told USA TODAY the images don't accurately depict the facility. As other independent fact-checking organizations have pointed out, the photos show amenities at several hotels, a custom home, a bowling alley and a university.
USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment.
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Images show hotels, custom home, bowling alley
The photos in the post are not an accurate depiction of the Hamilton County Justice Center in downtown Cincinnati, according to Kyla Woods.
"While we have made improvements to the cleanliness and functionality of the Hamilton County Justice Center, the only accurate depiction from the Facebook post in question is the one taken outside," Woods, a spokesperson for the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, said in an email. "The other photos are a false representation."
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Several of those images show amenities at hotels and resorts around the world – some of which are former jails and prisons.
One image in the post shows a lobby with purple lighting, a chandelier and sofas. The photo was taken at the Het Arresthuis, a hotel built in an old detention center in the Netherlands.
Another image in the post shows a well-lit room with a single bed. The room, one of many that were renovated from the Crown Remand Prison, is available at the Langholmen hotel in Sweden.
A photo of an airy dining room shows the Bayliner Diner at Universal's Cabana Bay Beach Resort. The hotel is located near Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.
Other images in the Facebook post show an arcade, a basketball court and a concrete staircase.
The arcade image shows the Midland Family Bowl, a bowling alley in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The basketball court image comes from the website of a Utah-based company that designs custom homes. The image with the staircase was taken from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s website and shows Simmons Hall.
Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that images show a jail in Cincinnati with an arcade, lounge and basketball court. A spokesperson for the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office said the images are an inaccurate representation of the facility. The photos show amenities at several different places around the world.
Our fact-check sources:
- Kyla Woods, Nov. 23, Email exchange with USA TODAY
- Hamilton County Municipal Court Help Center, accessed Nov. 23, Defend yourself at an Eviction Trial
- Google Reverse Image Search, Nov. 23
- HET ARRESTHUIS, accessed Nov. 23
- Langholmen, accessed Nov. 23, Hotel rooms
- Midland Family Bowl, accessed Nov. 23
- MIT Housing and Residential Services, accessed Nov. 23, The Guide to Residences
- Walker Home Design, accessed Nov. 23, Walker Fun Spaces
- Universal's Cabana Bay Beach Resort, July 8, 2020, Facebook post
- Check Your Fact, Nov. 22, FACT CHECK: DO THESE PICTURES SHOW THE INSIDE OF A PRISON IN CINCINNATI?
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Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
