Tag: consultants

ACLU lawyer tells Monroe County officials: 300 beds for new jail is not enough

Leading up to a Sept. 16 public hearing on an increase to the jail LIT (local income tax), ACLU attorney Ken Falk has sent a letter to Monroe County officials telling them that 300 beds for a new jail in Monroe County is “clearly an inadequate number.”

Falk is the same attorney who filed the 2008 lawsuit against Monroe County on behalf of Monroe County jail prisoners, about overcrowded conditions at the jail.

Falk’s Sept. 9 letter was a reaction to the proposal that a 300-bed facility would be sufficient to handle Monroe County’s future needs—an idea that has been floated by some Monroe County electeds.

The planned size of the new jail will be a big factor for county councilors as they decide the rate increase  for the jail LIT. The advertised rate for the hearing would increase it to 0.2 percent. The council’s vote on the tax rate won’t be taken on Sept. 16—but could come at any time after that.

Falk’s analysis relies on the notion of “functional capacity,” as did Monroe County sheriff Ruben Marté, when he gave a presentation to county councilors and county commissioners in July.

Cited in Falk’s letter are two recent cases involving county jails in the state of Indiana, where the courts relied on the idea that a jail’s functional capacity is just 80 percent of beds in the facility. Continue reading “ACLU lawyer tells Monroe County officials: 300 beds for new jail is not enough” →

Monroe County jail notebook: 1 year of data shows releases at all times of day, night

As Monroe County officials continue their discussion of a location for a new jail, the sheriff’s office has released some numbers on releases by weekday and time—for a full year, from June 1, 2023 through May 30, 2024.

The total number of releases for the year comes to 3,359—or an average of a little more than 9 people per day.

Not considering the day of the week, the majority of releases come between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. The two one-hour intervals from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and from 2 p.m to 3 p.m. show a dip compared to the five intervals before and after that window.

With 100 releases, the one-hour interval between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Mondays showed the highest number of releases of any one-hour period.

The numbers confirm that releases come at all times of the day on all days of the week. Between midnight and 8 a.m. there were 326 releases, or almost 10 percent of the total. Continue reading “Monroe County jail notebook: 1 year of data shows releases at all times of day, night” →

Weeklong Bloomington annexation trial: It’s a wrap, each side gets 45 days to submit final brief

Attorneys in the annexation trial wanted to be able to leave their exhibits in the courtroom overnight, so a sign was placed instructing the cleaning crew to skip the courtroom used for the annexation trial. (May 2, 2024)
Map of annexation areas. https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1_7o1q_H6CpeK-1gdEzDTxnPk84RZQ_E&usp=sharing
The image of Reed Quarries is from the Pictometry module of Monroe County’s property lookup system.

Now over is the trial on the merits of Bloomington’s plan to annex two territories on the west and southwest sides of the city.

Around 3 p.m. on Friday, both sides rested their cases after five full days of witness testimony in the courtroom, located inside the justice center at College Avenue and 7th Street in downtown Bloomington.

This past week’s trial was just about the merits of annexing Area 1A and Area 1B into the city, and did not address a different, constitutional question for other territories, which relates to annexation waivers of remonstrance, which were signed by some land owners.

Over the course of the week, not every witness on either list—for the the city of Bloomington, or for the remonstrators—was called to the stand. Those who did testify included current and former elected officials, current and former city staff, the city’s paid consultants, as well as a dozen or more landowners in the areas to be annexed.

Nathan Nikirk, the special judge out of Lawrence County who is presiding over the case, gave the two sides 45 days to submit their proposed orders in the case, which will include their final arguments. No closing oral arguments were given on Friday.

Before leaving the courtroom on Friday, Nikirk thanked all of the attorneys for their professionalism. He noted that annexation is a “passionate issue.”

Nikirk said he does not know the “perfect answer” on the case but promised to do his “very best.” He would be giving the matter all the consideration that he could, Nikirk said. Even if some are not happy with his eventual decision, Nikirk said he hopes that they understand that he had given it a lot of time and effort. Continue reading “Weeklong Bloomington annexation trial: It’s a wrap, each side gets 45 days to submit final brief” →