ACLU makes swift move to dismiss Monroe County jail lawsuit, would open door to fresh action on current conditions

Based on a Wednesday (May 27) filing in U.S. District Court by the ACLU, the long-running federal court case over conditions at the Monroe County jail is now poised to end.

The expected filing asking for dismissal came the day after the Monroe County council on Tuesday night (May 26) again rejected North Park as a new jail site.

Even though the dismissal of the previous lawsuit and the end of the private settlement agreement might seem on the surface like good news for the county government, it now opens the door to fresh litigation with an unknown outcome and timeline, and unknown requirements that could be imposed on the county by a federal court.

The most recent extension to the settlement agreement with the ACLU of Indiana, came with a requirement that the county government by May 29 approve a purchase agreement for the North Park property, just northwest of Bloomington, off SR 46. Tuesday’s vote by the county council means that deadline won’t be met.

In light of the county council’s Tuesday vote, the attorney for the ACLU representing the class of inmates and the attorney for Monroe County officials jointly signed a stipulation to dismiss the 2008 class-action lawsuit known as Richardson v. Monroe County Sheriff. The filing states that the county council’s May 26 vote against approving the North Park purchase agreement triggered the anticipated end of the private settlement agreement that has governed the case for more than 15 years.

The filing notes that the ACLU had previously warned that if the North Park purchase failed, “new litigation concerning the conditions of the existing jail and appropriate remedies for those conditions” could follow.

The dismissal, which still needs a judge’s order, would end the existing lawsuit “with prejudice as to this action only,” which means the current case cannot be revived. But the filing also stresses that “nothing prevents a new action from being filed by any prisoner in the Monroe County Jail concerning the jail conditions.”

The filing came one day after the county council again rejected the proposed North Park site for a new jail facility, repeating a position it already took in a resolution earlier this year, and on a vote in late October last year. The council’s vote leaves county officials without an approved location for a new jail while longstanding concerns about overcrowding and jail conditions remain unresolved.

The federal case dates to 2008 and produced a private settlement agreement in 2009 aimed at addressing unconstitutionally overcrowded jail conditions. Over the years, the settlement agreement was repeatedly extended while local officials explored options for replacing the jail.

In April, county commissioners, the sheriff and the ACLU jointly asked the federal court to extend the settlement agreement deadline to May 29, which gave the county additional time to pursue acquisition of the North Park property for a second time. That effort effectively collapsed Tuesday night when the council declined to authorize the purchase agreement.

The joint filing submitted Tuesday was signed by Ken Falk for the plaintiffs and Monroe County attorney David Schilling for the county government defendants.