Marshall County Commissioner Kevin Overmyer appeared at the County Council meeting Monday morning to ask them to put a hold on the third reading of the ordinance approving a General Obligation Bond for the Jail Expansion Project.
Overmyer said Samantha Goodson from the Indiana Office of Courts Services will meet with the county on March 4th to begin the assessment process. He suggested they wait to consider the ordinance until after the assessment comes back. His request kicked off a nearly 45 minute discussion.
Councilwoman Penny Lukenbill asked Overmyer if he anticipated the commissioners appointing an official committee consisting of the major players to work on ways of reducing the overcrowding conditions of the County Jail. Overmyer said he thinks they will but not until after the assessment process is completed with a report and recommendations. He said they would review the information and come up with a recommendation to the commissioners as to how to proceed. Lukenbill said there have been discussions going on between the major players for the past two years and Overmyer said the County Attorney has addressed it almost monthly in his report to the commissioners.
Councilman Jim Masterson said he’s received some calls from workers at the jail who want to offer input into the number of beds and size of a jail addition. Jim said the commissioners put forward a 300 plus bed addition but the employees have other ideas. While 100 beds might suffice for what they need but we are aware that it would put us within compliance today but there would be a need for another expansion in three to four years.
Masterson said, “What I want to see before I put my vote up for anything is, I want to see the needs versus the wants on what really needs to happen at the jail. I want to hear from the people who have authority, the judges, prosecutor, probation, sheriff and community corrections need to come forward to let us know what will suffice. Will it be 300 beds with their recommendation or 100 or 200 beds, they need to let us know.”
Councilman Masterson went on to say, “We are between a rock and a hard spot. Someone is going to have to come forward that houses these people…and that can’t be the council or the commissioners making that decision flat-out. It’s got to be someone coming forward that has skin in the game that knows what’s actually needed out there.”
Masterson also expressed his concerns for the safety of the employees working at the jail.
Commissioner Overmyer told the council he has concern with the fourth court passing through legislature. Senate bill 256 may have trouble on the house side because the county doesn’t meet all the required criteria. In fact State Representative Jack Jordan said on Friday’s What’s Your Opinion Show he had concerns on its passage.
Councilwoman Judy Stone brought up Trial Rule 26 and said, “Most of the people, 90% or 98% that would apply to Trial Rule 26 they’re already on Community Corrections. We’re one step ahead of that.”
Councilman Jon VanVactor said he’s not in favor of the dormitory style housing in the proposed addition. He said he thinks everyone needs to be in a cell so they can be locked down. He said it would reduce the number of inmate to staff persons needed. VanVactor also questioned the number of additional employees needed. He said, “At one time it was 6 1/2, then it went to 10 and in the work-session he said eventually he would need 17 more employees.”
Councilman Jack Roose said, “I guess kind look at it a different way. We’ve had a lot of meetings, informational meetings and gathered a lot of information already. When you start looking at a pod, the square feet or foot print that it’s going to have, the number of cells that it can hold…you know you’re not going to build half of that pod. We have to look at a building that going to hold 300 beds like RQAW showed us we could build part of it and come back later and build some more cells. To me the question has been pretty well answered as far as what we need.” Councilman Roose went on to say we need at least a couple hundred more beds with the information presented to us at the meeting with RQAW and Baker Tilly.
Councilman Heath Thornton said he liked the dormitory rooms because they are a cheaper option. He said, “Not everybody in the jail is a harden criminal.” The sheriff said he liked to idea of dormitory holding rooms to group certain inmates, especially those going through programming together in the same area.
VanVactor said, “I don’t think there is any doubt in anyone’s mind that there is a need for another jail space. Since March of 2018 the jail has been over the 80% capacity on an average figure which means it’s been up and down, above that. On an average it’s been above that since March of 2018. Since June 2019 it’s been over total capacity and continues to be over the total capacity. So, the need is there. It’s not that we want more beds. We need more beds.”
Councilwoman Lukenbill motioned to postpone the third reading of the ordinance to approving the General Obligation Bond for the jail expansion project until the Indiana Office of Court Services completes evaluation and makes their recommendations. It was unanimously passed by the council.
Councilman Thornton also commented that there people in the community that have some good ideas. He said, “They need to be heard. Those people need to be involved and at the table.”
VanVactor then made a motion to recommendation that the Commissioners to hold several public hearings. He said, “The meetings will afford the public an opportunity to attend and receive information and give their input into this proposed jail expansion and the jail overcrowding problem and solutions to that problem.” That motion passed unanimously.
