The inmate population at the Marshal County Jail continues to be at an all-time high. During the Commissioners meeting on Monday Sheriff Matt Hassel said over the weekend it reached 297 while the recommended capacity is 239.
Inmates are sleeping on mats on the floors in the cells and they are now using the second recreation space as a barracks. Additional mats have been purchased and the sheriff is in the process of purchasing cots.
During Monday’s meeting Commissioner Mike Delp asked about moving sentenced inmates to the Elkhart County Jail and the sheriff said he hadn’t heard back since he sent the approved intergovernmental agreement to them.
During the County Budget hearings on Tuesday the Sheriff told the County Council that Sheriff Siegel has approved the agreement and forwarded it on the their attorney and commissioners for final approve. The agreement calls for Marshall County to pay $40 per day per inmate.
Sheriff Hassel gave the council an example of the impact of the additional inmates. He said the number of meals has increased tremendoudly and said in 2016 a total of 66,548 meals were made in the kitchen. In 2017 that number grew to 80,273 and in 2018 it was 103,937. So far this year the kitchen staff has made 125,505 meals…thus his proof as to why he added a part time cook to the 2020 budget at a cost of $15,000.
Continuing with jail discussions, on Tuesday Commissioner Kevin Overmyer told members of the County Council that RQAW, the architects who built the jail will be at the Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, September 3rd to discuss the addition of a new pod to the facility. He said a contract from RQAW has been presented and is currently being reviewed by the county attorney.
