Monroe County Justice Building: Closed through Friday (Jan. 19)
The Monroe County Justice Building at 7th Street and College Avenue in downtown Bloomington is closed through the end of the week (Jan. 19).
The closure is due to a problem with the heating system, according to a Wednesday announcement sent out through the county’s emergency alert system.
The building has been closed due to the heating system problem since Tuesday (Jan. 16) at 1 p.m.
Responding to an email question from The B Square, jail commander Kyle Gibbons reported that the county jail, which is located on the upper floors of the building, is “fully operational.”
The B Square spoke with Angie Purdie, the administrator for the board of county commissioners, which is the legal owner of the building. On Friday, Purdie said HFI, Inc. is set to come and make a repair to the building’s primary heating system.
Purdie told the B Square that the problem is getting enough heat to the second floor, which houses the courtrooms.
Above that, where the jail is located, there is heat, Purdie said. The secondary heating system has failed, Purdie said, and can’t be addressed until the weather warms up.
The last three days have seen single-digit and below-zero overnight temperatures. The next four days look to be a smidgen warmer, but the daytime temperatures are not expected to be higher than 29 F degrees on any of those days, according to the National Weather Service Forecast for Bloomington.
The repair that HFI is making on Friday will be to the primary heating system, Purdie said.
Purdie said that the decision to close the building was made in concert with the board of judges and the prosecutor.
According to Monroe County circuit court judge Catherine Stafford, parties in scheduled court cases are being notified individually. The scheduling status of cases can be checked online at mycase.in.gov after the cases are rescheduled.
Stafford also indicated that her office’s voicemail greetings have been changed, and the Zoom video conference waiting room had been changed for proceedings scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. That can’t be done for Thursday and Friday, without being in the office.
Stafford said her office has also sent messages to all local attorneys and is trying to publicize the closure on Facebook.
The overall condition of the building and its basic systems is one reason that the county is currently looking to replace the current jail facility. Monroe County officials received a consultant’s report two and half years ago—indicating that the current facility, is failing to provide constitutional levels of care.
