Former state police general counsel named jail transition director by Monroe County sheriff
At their regular Tuesday meeting, county councilors were introduced to Todd Smith as the new jail transition director.
Making the introduction was Monroe County sheriff Ruben Marté. Smith is replacing Cory Grass who was appointed by Marté in late 2023 to head up the transition to a new jail facility. Grass resigned the position in order to become governmental affairs director for Indiana's new lieutenant governor, Micah Beckwith.
Marté ticked through a list of Smith's credentials, which include a 38-year career with the Indiana State Police. Smith holds a law degree from Indiana University and served for 18 years as chief legal counsel for the Indiana State Police. Marté said that as chief counsel Smith had been involved with several building projects—three Indiana State Police posts and three regional laboratories. That meant he was involved in the whole construction process, including site selection, procurement, contracting, design, and building turnover, Marté said.
Marté's background also includes more than three decades with the Indiana State Police. Marté and Smith worked together for 12 years, teaching a course in cultural awareness for law enforcement officers.
Smith told county councilors: "I'm retiring from my job with the Indiana State Police for over 38 years, largely to work with this man again, sheriff Marté." Smith said that the duties and responsibilities of the director of the jail transition team have a "tremendous amount of overlap" with the work he has done for the last 20 years with the Indiana State Police.
Smith told county councilors he has already spoken with Scott Carnegie, with DLZ Corporation, which is the design/build firm working on the jail project. "We're hitting the ground running," Smith said.
In late February, DLZ Corporation presented its predesign work for a 500-bed jail facility and a related justice center, to be constructed at North Park, with a price tag of about $207 million.
The position of jail transition director has no partisan political expectations. Marté is a Democrat, like all other county-level electeds in Monroe County, except for county councilor Marty Hawk. Like his predecessor, Cory Grass, who is now chair of the Monroe County Republican Party, Smith has identified himself publicly as a Republican.
In fall 2024, Smith was unsuccessful as a candidate in the vacancy caucus for state senate District 48, which was created by the resignation of Republican Mark Messmer, who defeated former U.S. Representative John Hostettler in the 2024 primary. Messmer resigned from the Indiana Senate in September 2024. Messmer won the November 2024 election over Democrat Erik Hurt.
