Watch: GOP attacks sheriff in dark, chilling ad

Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil has been releasing jail inmates early because of an overcrowded jail, but that's been going on long before the Democrat took office.

Still, it's given Neil's opponent fodder for a dark and chilling new attack ad. Republican candidate Gary Lee's campaign on Monday released a video on YouTube depicting three menacing-looking men walking in a quiet suburban neighborhood before they come upon a little girl playing with a kickball in her driveway by herself.

"Because of Jim Neil, our neighborhoods, our children, our safety is at risk," the deep-voiced narrator says. "How can we trust Jim Neil to keep our families safe?"

But Neil isn't doing anything differently than his Republican predecessor did, the Democratic sheriff's campaign said, releasing non-violent criminals due to a lack of jail space.

"To set the record straight, no prisoners have been released early for at least a month," Neil said in a statement released to The Enquirer by his campaign. "And since taking office, I've repeatedly made the case for more jail space in Hamilton County. Overcrowding in the jail is not new to my administration."

Nonetheless, the video is the latest shot fired in what's become the most contentious local race this year as the GOP badly wants to regain control of the sheriff's office.

In the mostly black-and-white, 40-second segment, the ball gets away from the girl and one of the men stops it with his foot. As the girl goes to retrieve the ball, she finds herself face-to-face with a stocky, bald guy wearing dark sunglasses.

Neil's predecessor, Si Leis, routinely released non-violent criminals from the justice due to over-crowding. In fact, between 2009 until Leis retired at the end of 2012, more than 10,000 inmates were released early or had their sentences deferred because Leis said there was not enough room in the jail. Leis was known as a no-nonsense, tough-on-crime conservative during his 25 years as the county's top law enforcement officer.

Neil's administration, however, reversed Leis' policy and no longer released inmates early – at least not before the inmate first goes before a judge, according to a May 2013 Enquirer story. But Lee's campaign released court documents showing the Sheriff's top jail administrator, Major Charmaine McGuffey, was ordered to appear before a magistrate judge last year for repeatedly releasing an inmate without him posting bond.

Neil's office did not immediately have data available showing how many inmates have been released during his term, but a spokesman said the sheriff has "closed the revolving door at the jail."

In 2009, Hamilton County voters killed a ballot initiative that would've raised money to build a new jail. Leis had pushed for a new, 1,500-bed jail to be built. The total capacity of Hamilton County's four detention facilities is 2,270.

"As a career law enforcement officer, it appalled me that there was not enough room to house offenders charged and convicted of crimes," Neil said. "But it is a situation only the county commissioners can remedy by providing the funding to make more jail space available."