Monroe County jail notebook: 6 DOC inmates transferred to Brown County as population trends up

The population in Monroe County’s jail has shown a steady increase over the last 11 days, hitting 264 on Friday (July 31). That is well above either of the two numbers that have been cited recently as the facility’s functional capacity—186 by the sheriff or 229 by the ACLU.

That number would have been 270, instead of 264, except for the fact that the sheriff’s office transferred six people from the county jail to Brown County’s facility this past week. That’s according to chief deputy sheriff Phil Parker.

All six are tied to the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC). Parker said three are IDOC-sentenced inmates who have already received their prison sentences and are simply waiting for the state to find them beds and transport them. The other three are being held on IDOC parole violations—people who had been released on parole, but whose parole officers have determined they should be returned to prison.

Those six are now in the Brown County jail. That reflects the start of a strategy that surfaced almost three weeks ago, when Monroe County commissioners declared an “emergency” as a first step to moving up to 100 prisoners out of the jail, due to overcrowded conditions. The day after action by the commissioners, a new lawsuit over jail conditions was filed by the ACLU on behalf of two inmates.

Brown County and Monroe County have a memorandum of understanding for housing Monroe County prisoners. Parker said Brown County’s sheriff has indicated he can take roughly 20 to 25 Monroe County inmates, depending on his own jail’s situation.

Parker said the transfers had an immediate concrete effect on conditions inside the Monroe County jail. Moving out just six people allowed jail staff to reduce five two-person cells, which had been holding three people, back down to two. That means five fewer people are sleeping on mats on the floor, Parker said.

Financially, Parker said the arrangement does not currently require Monroe County to pay Brown County out of its own jail or general funds. Instead, the per diem that IDOC had been paying Monroe County to house those inmates is now paid to Brown County. That means Monroe County loses that revenue but does not take on a new daily expense for the transfers to Brown County.

The county council, the county’s fiscal body, will likely be asked by Monroe County sheriff Ruben Marté in the next several weeks for funding to pursue the transport of additional inmates.

The daily amount paid by IDOC to county jails to house what it calls “back-ups” is $35 a day, according to the IDOC’s latest population report.

According to IDOC total counts from the beginning of May, which is the most recent report available, there were 24,777 adult male offenders, which includes 1,030 county jail “back-ups.” The report put that figure at 5% below the operational bed capacity.

The same report says there were 2,775 adult female offenders, including 94 held in county jail “back-ups.” That population is described as 8% below the operational bed capacity.

The jail population numbers are under extra scrutiny in the context of fresh litigation that has been filed by the ACLU on behalf of two prisoners being held at the jail, over the conditions at the jail. [Monroe County Jail Timeline]