City-county leaders disagree on how to fix overcrowded jail
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – On the outside everything looks status quo at Marion County Jail II, but don’t judge a book by its cover.
The jail system in the county has an overcrowding problem.
“It’s been a little frustrating the last few months, especially about the last year that we’ve been warning this is coming with the sheriff’s office,” said Sheriff John Layton.
Between three county jail facilities, the capacity is 2507. It goes into crisis mode at 2400.
Right now, the county has 2529 inmates which would put it over capacity.
To combat that issue, more than 50 inmates are sleeping in cells in different counties across Indiana. 44 of them are in Elkhart County, the rest are scattered in other counties.
“In order to get them up there we have to send them up with deputies and we’re calculating it’s about $500 a trip just to get them up there,” said Col. Louis Dezelan of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office as he talked at a Criminal Justice Planning Council meeting Monday.
On top of that, he said it costs $40 per day per inmate to house them outside of Marion County.
It’s a short-term solution but Sheriff Layton’s other idea is to bring in more beds for the jail to increase its capacity.
“I think that’s going to have to come first and to give us some breathing room so we can look down through the layers and see if there’s any other savings, if there’s any other ways that we can go about (it),” he said.
Not everyone at the meeting was on the board with the idea, especially City-County Councillor Leroy Robinson.
“Funding additional jail beds is not the solution, short-term or long-term,” he said adamantly during the meeting.
Robinson said instead of adding beds he wants to remove certain inmates.
“800 individuals with mental health issues that are being incarcerated, they should not be in jail. Those individuals should be receiving services and support from our community and also from our social service industry,” he said. “We’re working with health and hospital to address those issues.”
Whichever route the county goes, Sheriff Layton is just glad the conversation is underway.
“It’s better late than never and we’re going to get this thing going and get it fixed somehow or another,” said Sheriff Layton.
He said the increase in population is due to several factors.
One includes local law enforcement agencies arresting more violent criminals. Also, legislation passed last year made it so low-level felons serve their sentences in county jails rather than state prisons.