CLEVELAND (WJW) — Cuyahoga County officials confirm to the FOX 8 I-Team corrections officers used pepper balls to settle a disturbance in the county jail in a maximum-security area where the majority of inmates are waiting for trial to face murder charges.

It happened Saturday morning.

County spokesperson Mary Louise Madigan says some inmates refused to go back in their cells under lockdown.

She says they began damaging plumbing and causing other damage.

Madigan says corrections officers “gained compliance through the use of minimal use of force, mainly the use of pepper balls.”

The county says no injuries were reported and 9 out of 17 inmates in that pod took part.

Since that pod is maximum security, the county says it requires “strict maintenance.”

And, it is not one of the areas of the jail under “modified operational supervision.”

Jail guards have raised concerns repeatedly about short-staffing and too few corrections officers assigned to monitor too many inmates.

The sheriff’s department will investigate for possible charges.

Mary Louise Madigan said the inmates involved “are frustrated waiting for more than a year for a trial date.”

She added the sheriff is “proud of his staff” working hard under “very difficult circumstances.”