Tag: jail

Monroe County sheriff sends update on efforts to clean, sanitize jail

Late Wednesday afternoon, Monroe County sheriff Ruben Marté released an update on efforts to clean up the jail facility.

The emailed update was sent to county councilors, county commissioners, members of the community justice response committee, and several other community members.

The update included a link to several before-after photos of: J Block, which is the jail’s new mental health dormitory; the intake room; and the sally port, which is where prisoners are taken into the jail.

The focus of current cleaning efforts is on D Block, according to Marté’s update. Continue reading “Monroe County sheriff sends update on efforts to clean, sanitize jail” →

New position OK’d for jail cleaning, Monroe County councilors talk making (versus keeping) the peace

Monroe County sheriff Ruben Marté (March 6, 2023).
President of the Monroe County Democratic Black Caucus, Nicole Bolden (March 6, 2023).
Monroe County councilor Jennifer Crossley at the March 14, 2023 council meeting.
Monroe County councilor Kate Wiltz at the March 14, 2023 council meeting.

A new position at Monroe County’s jail has been created to support new sheriff Ruben Marté’s effort to make the jail clean and sanitary, and to keep it that way.

At their regular Tuesday meeting, county councilors voted unanimously in favor of creating a new job called “jail facility coordinator.”  It will be paid on par with guards. It will report directly to the sheriff.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the county council authorized an additional appropriation of $40,000 for supplies to clean and paint the jail. Continue reading “New position OK’d for jail cleaning, Monroe County councilors talk making (versus keeping) the peace” →

DLZ gets initial nod from Monroe County for new jail design, vote 2 weeks away

Monroe County facilities director Richard Crider addresses county commissioners on March 8, 2023.
Monroe County commissioners from left: Lee Jones, Penny Githens, and Julie Thomas.

The final decision has not been made, but DLZ is likely to be the firm that Monroe County uses to master plan and design a new jail facility.

At a Wednesday morning work session, Monroe County commissioners received a brief report from a committee that they created to review three responses to a request for qualifications (RFQ), to master plan and design  a new jail.

DLZ was the company recommended by the committee. The other two responses came from Elavatus and RQRAW.

Monroe County director of facilities Richard Crider delivered the committee’s recommendation to the commissioners. About the three companies who responded, Crider said, “They are all very capable and proficient in what they do. And I believe we all felt like any one of them could provide a facility that meets our needs.”

But it was DLZ that got the committee’s nod: “One firm stood out above the rest and that was DLZ.” Crider added, “DLZ was the unanimous decision of the committee.”

Joining Crider on the RFQ review committee were: David Gardner, ASI Facilities Services contractor); Lee Baker, county attorney; Kyle Gibbons, jail commander; Matt Demmings, assistant jail commander; and Angie Purdie, administrator for the commissioners.

The commissioners do not have a regular meeting scheduled for next week, on March 15. The vote on the choice of DLZ is set for two weeks from now, on March 22. Continue reading “DLZ gets initial nod from Monroe County for new jail design, vote 2 weeks away” →

Advice on choice for new jail design-build firm to be heard by Monroe County commissioners, justice response committee still struggling

County commissioner Penny Githens (March 6, 2023).
County commissioner Julie Thomas (March 6, 2023).
County commissioner Lee Jones (March 6, 2023).
Monroe County sheriff Ruben Marté (March 6, 2023).
From left: Monroe County circuit court judge Darcie Fawcett and deputy prosecutor April Wilson (March 6, 2023).
President of the Monroe County Democratic Black Caucus, Nicole Bolden (March 6, 2023).
Monroe County councilor Jennifer Crossley (March 6, 2023).
Community justice response committee (CJRC) (March 6, 2023).
Jauston Huerta, director of FOCUS Initiatives (March 6, 2023).

At their work session this Wednesday (March 8), Monroe County commissioners are supposed to receive a recommendation on which of three firms to select, to design and build a new jail.

The three firms responded to a request for proposals (RFQ) issued by the commissioners. Reviewing and scoring the three proposals was a committee of staff from the county’s legal department, the sheriff’s office, the facilities department, and the administrator for the commissioners.

The three firms making proposals were DLZ, Elevatus, and RQAW.

The timetable for selection and approval of a company was sketched out by president of the board of county commissioners, Penny Githens, at Monday’s meeting of the community justice response committee (CJRC).

Githens said the commissioners expect to vote on the selection of one of the three firms at their March 22 regular meeting. Whichever company is selected would be invited to give a presentation to the CJRC on April 3, Githens said.

The timetable for handling the responses to the RFQ could be counted as a bit of progress towards the goal of responding to the work of two consultants, released to the county government about 20 months ago. The report described Monroe County’s jail as having “far exceeded its structural and functional life cycle.”

But Monday’s CJRC meeting was again plagued by friction between the three county commissioners and the other committee members. Continue reading “Advice on choice for new jail design-build firm to be heard by Monroe County commissioners, justice response committee still struggling” →

New job for coordinating cleaning of Monroe County jail now has description, on clear path to creation

From left: Elizabeth Sensenstein, Phil Parker, Kyle Gibbons, Jeff Cockerill, Geoff McKim, Peter Iversen.
Monroe County chief deputy sheriff Phil Parker.
From left: Monroe County chief deputy sheriff Phil Parker, Kyle Gibbons, and county attorney Jeff Cockrill.

Now finally settled is the wording of the job description for a new position at Monroe County’s jail, which is supposed to help put the jail into a clean and sanitary condition and keep it that way.

The job description was the topic of a Friday noon meeting of the county council’s personnel administration committee (PAC), which agreed to forward the job description to Waggoner, Irwin, and Sheele, Inc. (WIS)—which is the county’s HR consultant.

WIS will incorporate the job description into the county’s job classification scheme, which determines compensation. The final step in the process will be for the full county council to approve the creation of the position, and its compensation.

That approval could come at the county council’s March 14 meeting. Continue reading “New job for coordinating cleaning of Monroe County jail now has description, on clear path to creation” →

Jail committee tries to turn page on infighting: “Talking more is always a good antidote to talking less or talking crosswise.”

Community justice response committee (Feb. 6, 2023)
From left: Monroe County circuit court judges Kara Krothe and Catherine Stafford and deputy prosecutor April Wilson.
County councilors Jennifer Crossley and Peter Iversen. Community justice response committee (Feb. 6, 2023).

This Monday marked the first meeting of Monroe County’s community justice response committee (CJRC) after the membership was revised by county commissioners—to include all three commissioners, reduce the number of judges from four to two, but not add any representatives from Bloomington city government.

The previous couple of meetings had been contentious.

And much of the friction centered on the makeup of the group, which is supposed to be responding to the work of two consultants, released to the county government more than 18 months ago.

The meetings were contentious enough to prompt a rebuke of the committee from various quarters. Friction between the judicial and the executive branch surfaced about how input is treated from different people at the table, and how information is shared.

That friction surfaced at a previous meeting when county commissioner Lee Jones told circuit court judge Catherine Stafford, “I’m sorry, Catherine, would you please stop interrupting me.”

This Monday, it was Stafford who was asked by committee co-chair county commissioner Penny Githens to get the meeting started with some remarks.

The way Githens cued up Stafford’s speaking turn made it plain she wanted to start a new chapter: “I was chatting with my friend judge Stafford recently, and I was going to ask her if she would start the meeting off with just a few brief sentences.”

Stafford responded by alluding to some of the rocky terrain the committee had traversed: “I think that talking more is always a good antidote to talking less, or talking crosswise.” Continue reading “Jail committee tries to turn page on infighting: “Talking more is always a good antidote to talking less or talking crosswise.”” →

Monroe County leaders to form core group to tackle jail issues: “It will be a beast to wrestle.”

The image looking west at the Charlotte Zietlow Justice Center at the corner of College Avenue and 7th Streets is from the Pictometry module of Monroe County’s online property lookup system. The courts are on the lower floors. The jail is housed in the upper floors of the building.

In order to start working through two recent reports from consultants hired to study the local criminal justice system, a core group of Monroe County officials should be formed to start meeting as a public body as often as weekly.

In addition, there’s support for hiring one of the consultants to continue working with Monroe County officials on implementing recommendations.

That was the clear consensus from a joint meeting of the board of commissioners and county councilors on Wednesday night.

The reports from the two consultants—RJS Justice Services and Inclusivity Strategic Consulting—highlighted a number of challenges in Monroe County’s criminal justice system.

To address the problems documented in the reports, County councilor Trent Deckard said, “It is not a thing that we can snap our fingers and do.” Deckard described the magnitude of the criminal justice questions facing the county: “It will be a beast to wrestle. …And here we go.” Continue reading “Monroe County leaders to form core group to tackle jail issues: “It will be a beast to wrestle.”” →

Joint meeting of Monroe County electeds to mull criminal justice report: “The jail facility is failing …”

“The jail facility is failing and cannot ensure consistent and sustainable provision of constitutional rights of incarcerated persons.”

Image links to .pdf of executive summary of RJS Justice Services report.

That’s one of several blunt assessments in a criminal justice and incarceration study dated June 20, 2021, which was released by Monroe County commissioners on Monday night. The study was conducted under contract by RJS Justice Services, with lead consultant Kenneth Ray.

Monroe County’s jail is located on the upper floors of the Charlotte Zietlow Justice Center at the northwest corner of 7th Street and College Avenue in downtown Bloomington. The building was constructed in 1985.

The report’s criticism of the jail facility is based on both its design and capacity. About the potential for the jail’s physical configuration to support the kind of programs that are needed, the report states: “The operational efficiency of facility design is non-detectable.”

About the adequacy of the current jail to house the number of inmates who are locked up there, the report says, “The daily inmate population exceeded the jail’s functional capacity on most days since 2004 and all days per year consecutively since 2015.” Continue reading “Joint meeting of Monroe County electeds to mull criminal justice report: “The jail facility is failing …”” →

Not a jail or a hospital: Stride Coalition’s crisis diversion center gets ribbon cut ahead of Aug. 3 opening

Looking south along Morton Street in front of the Stride Center
Looking south along Morton Street in front of the Stride Center
The view east towards the Monroe County parking garage. The Stride Center is located on the ground floor.
The view east towards the Monroe County parking garage. The Stride Center is located on the ground floor.
Linda Grove-Paul, vice president of adult and family services at Centerstone
Linda Grove-Paul, vice president of adult and family services at Centerstone

On Monday afternoon, leaders of several local organizations gathered on the lower level of Monroe County’s Morton Street Parking garage for a crisis diversion center ribbon cutting.

The space was originally designed as a place for inmates of the county jail—a place they could be housed in case the jail needed to be evacuated. The jail is just across the alley to the west.

Now it’s been remodeled as a place where people who are in trouble can be taken by law enforcement officers, instead of the jail. Or a hospital.

With the ribbon now cut, the Stride Coalition’s crisis diversion center is expected to be fully staffed and ready to open by Aug. 3, according to Linda Grove-Paul, vice president of adult and family services at Centerstone, the lead organization for the Stride facility. Continue reading “Not a jail or a hospital: Stride Coalition’s crisis diversion center gets ribbon cut ahead of Aug. 3 opening” →

Fixed-point audio recording, body cameras, to be added to Monroe County’s jail

Monroe County’s sheriff, Brad Swain, appeared in front of the county board of commissioners on Wednesday morning to ask them to approve $6,850 to install four microphones on the first floor of the jail.

With the purchase came the news that body cameras will be worn by a limited number of jail staff.

Cropped swain sherriff 08-07-2019 IMG_0484
Monroe County’s sheriff, Brad Swain, addresses county commissioners on the topic of microphones installed at a few intake areas of the jail. (Dave Askins/Beacon)

Commissioners approved the purchase on a 3–0 vote. Board president Julie Thomas asked Swain to pass along thanks from the commissioners to the jail staff. Swain returned the compliment, saying that he knew as sheriff that when he had a legitimate request, he would get support from the commissioners.

Swain told them the cost was a “fantastic bargain,” because it would help limit the number of claims potentially made against jail staff by arriving inmates who are in the first, temporary phases of incarceration. Microphone locations include: the booking door; booking; holding cell; and drunk tank.

The microphones will supplement the video cameras at the jail, which was a roughly $300,000 system approved by the commissioners a few years ago, Swain said. The camera system had eliminated some lawsuits, Swain said, by documenting things that contradicted claims about what had happened.
Continue reading “Fixed-point audio recording, body cameras, to be added to Monroe County’s jail” →