New jail: Monroe County council, commissioners hit rough patch, de-appropriation of money mulled

Monroe County’s council, the fiscal body for county government, is looking to send a signal that it’s not pleased with the recent approach the board of county commissioners has taken to the project to build a new county jail.

On Tuesday, councilors took the chance at the start of their regular meeting to express their dissatisfaction that county commissioners have now announced that it’s the county council, as opposed to themselves, who should work with the sheriff to determine the bed count for a planned new jail facility.

Councilors are also not happy because they say that a jail design consultant hired by county commissioners, with money appropriated by the county council, recently declined to provide the council an update.

So on July 9, there could be an item on the council’s agenda that would de-appropriate some of the money that came from a $10.5 million bond, the issuance of which was approved at the Oct. 11, 2022 meeting of the county council.

The idea would be that the county council could appropriate the money again, possibly in a piecemeal way, in response to requests from the county commissioners.

The money from the bond proceeds was intended to pay for acquisition of real estate to build the new jail, and related expenses. That money landed in a fund numbered 4816, according to Monroe County auditor Bri Gregory.

The planned purchase of a Fullerton Pike property for a new jail did not pan out.  But over the last several months, fund 4816 has been tapped for expenses related to environmental investigation of other potential sites and a $315,000  contract with DLZ. The DLZ contract includes predesign, schematic design, and some services for design development, construction documents, procurement, and construction.

Councilor Kate Wiltz, who is one of two county council liaisons ​​to the sheriff’s office said she is not looking to “derail progress that’s underway.” Wiltz also said “I’m not trying to defund a contract.” The other council liaison to the sheriff’s office is Marty Hawk.

Council president Trent Deckard described the idea of de-appropriating some of the money as a way to “regain a little bit of footing there.”

Statements from county commissioner Julie Thomas, that it would be the county council and the sheriff who decide the number of beds, came at two recent public meetings, which were held at the Ellettsville fire station, about the proposed  North Park location for a new jail.

Wiltz  said, “What I hadn’t fully appreciated, I suppose, is that [the county commissioners] intend for the council to be more involved in determining the size or bed count of the facility.”

Wiltz said, “I appreciate being involved in decision making generally.” She added, “I’m a little concerned that this seems to be a change from previous conversations on this topic and previous understandings of where our ‘lanes’ are.”

Councilor Cheryl Munson put it like this: “It was certainly very clear to everybody at the [Ellettsville fire station] meeting that the council was completely surprised by the new assignment issued by the commissioners.”

Another source of friction between the councilors and the commissioners is the fact that they say Scott Carnegie, the DLZ consultant, recently declined a request from the councilors to provide them an update on the project. According to Wiltz, Carnegie indicated that the county commissioners had told him not to give the requested update.

About the lack of an update from DLZ, Deckard commented, “We should be able to receive updates from anyone receiving public money for anything.”

Councilor Jennifer Crossley said that having watched a recording of the June 5 public meeting at the Ellettsville fire station, “It was a little bit surprising to hear that we are responsible for certain things.”

Crossley thinks the judges should be included in the conversation about the number of beds for the new jail. She doesn’t think it should be up to just the county council and the sheriff.

Crossley expressed disappointment about how the message about bed count had been conveyed by the commissioners. “It is disheartening to hear certain things come out in meetings instead of us having these conversations more collaboratively, as we continue to say we want to do things collaboratively,” Crossley said.

The county council has already weighed in with a policy document several months ago that includes a 400-bed limit on the new jail facility. A more recent recommendation, from a statutorily required feasibility study done by county commissioners, indicated 450-500 beds was the best number.

That recommendation, made by RQAW Corporation, has been criticized, because the number came from just taking the average figure for the number of jail beds per capita in the six counties adjacent to Monroe County.

A new jail is now planned, because in 2008, the ACLU filed a lawsuit stemming from conditions at the jail, and the facility is now operating under a settlement agreement, reached in 2009, which has been extended several times. The work of two consultants was delivered to the county three years ago, which included a conclusion that the current facility is “failing.”