During Monday’s County Commissioner meeting, County Attorney Jim Clevenger shared the news that the ACLU of Indiana has filed on behalf of four inmates lodged in the Marshall County Jail. The attorney said these claims are separate from the four others that have been filed for damages due to overcrowding in the jail. The ACLU is seeking injunctive relief which is not financial but asks the county to stop the overcrowding of the jail.
The 12 year old jail was constructed with a recommended capacity of 239 while the population has hovered in the high 200’s and even slightly over 300.
Last week Clevenger met with counsel assigned by Bliss McKnight Governmental Interinsurance Exchange at the jail with the sheriff and other jail staff. He said, “I came away from that meeting feeling very uneasy about additional claims and the possibility of a class action filing.”
Clevenger told the commissioners injunctive relief is not included in their liability insurance. Therefore his recommendation was to hire Betty Knight who has experience in handling cases that deal with injunctive relief as well as the ACLU and jail overcrowding.
The agreement calls for an hourly rate of $165.
