Tag: Jennifer Crossley

Jail finance committee starts off week of criminal justice talk with diversity, equity, inclusion

Diversity, equity, and inclusion was the focus of Monday afternoon’s meeting of the county council’s justice fiscal advisory committee (JFAC).

The highlight of the committee’s meeting was a presentation on racial disparity at the Monroe County jail. Presenting the information was former attorney Guy Loftman, who serves on the legal redress committee of the Monroe County Branch of the NAACP.

A key fact presented by Loftman, based on Monroe County jail statistics  from earlier this year, was the disparity between the percentage of Black inmates and the percentage of Black residents of Monroe County.

As measured by the U.S. Census in 2020 about 3.9 percent of Monroe County residents are Black. But for the 3-month period between Jan. 1 and March 31 of this year, Black people made up on average 26.5% of the inmates in the Monroe County jail.

JFAC’s Monday meeting was the first of three meetings this week when local officials will have criminal justice-related matters on their agenda.

On Friday at noon, Bloomington’s city council has a work session scheduled, to hear from county officials about options for locating a new county jail.

Appearing on Tuesday’s regular monthly meeting for the full county council is a discussion item  about “potential adjustments to the LIT-special purpose fund rate.” That’s a juvenile detention-related tax. Continue reading “Jail finance committee starts off week of criminal justice talk with diversity, equity, inclusion” →

Storm knocks out Monroe County justice committee

A tree was split by the strong winds that blew through with a thunderstorm around 4 p.m. on Thursday, June 29, 2023.
This the Duke Energy power outage map at around 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 29, 2023
The sign posted on the north entrance to the Monroe County courthouse announces the cancellation of the justice fiscal advisory committee (JFAC) on June 29, 2203.

The storm that blew through the Bloomington area around 4 p.m. on Thursday knocked out power to at least 21,000 Duke Energy customers in the region, according to the power company’s outage map.

Even though the Monroe County courthouse still had power, a 4:30 p.m. meeting of the county council’s justice fiscal advisory committee (JFAC) was canceled.

The chairship of the committee rotates from meeting to meeting among three county councilors, and it was Jennifer Crossley’s call to cancel the meeting. The other two county councilors serving on the committee are Kate Wiltz and Peter Iversen. Several non-voting members are also included on the committee.

Crossley told The B Square that for people traveling from outside the downtown it would have meant driving around crashes and non-working traffic signals, so she didn’t want anyone to take unnecessary risks.

The missed meeting means the committee will have to compress its work a bit. When the county council created the committee in May, the council’s resolution set a deadline for the completion  of its assigned work—by the end of the year.

But the resolution sets a September timeframe as the target for delivering a report to the full council. Continue reading “Storm knocks out Monroe County justice committee” →

New jail finance committee created by Monroe County councilors

Monroe County auditor Cathy Smith adjusts the mic for Charlotte Zietlow (May 10, 2023).
Isabel Piedmont-Smith addresses the county council (May 10, 2023).
The screen in the Nat U. Hill room reflects the changes made to the JFAC resolution (May 10, 2023).
Gloria Howell addresses the Monroe County council (May 10, 2023).
County attorney Molly Turner-King (May 10, 2023).
Gloria Howell addresses the Monroe County council (May 10, 2023).

Two weeks after the idea was floated at a work session, the Monroe County council has established a new committee to focus on fiscal issues associated with the construction of a new jail.

The unanimous vote to create the justice fiscal advisory committee (JFAC)—consisting of three county councilors and 12 other ex officio members—came at the council’s regular meeting on Tuesday. The ex officio members don’t count towards the number needed for a quorum.

The word “fiscal” in the name of the new committee that has been formed by the county council reflects the fact that the council is the county’s fiscal body.

Any funding for a new jail facility would have to be approved by the seven-member county council, no matter what decisions are made by the three county commissioners about the location and size of a new jail facility.

The county council’s move to create the committee got support from the public mic during the meeting, in-person as well as on the Zoom video conference platform. Continue reading “New jail finance committee created by Monroe County councilors” →

Formation of criminal justice fiscal advisory committee mulled by Monroe County council

As soon as two weeks from now, on May 9, the Monroe County council could be taking a vote on the formation of a new criminal justice fiscal advisory committee.

CATS screen grab of the Monroe County council’s April 25 work session.

The committee’s exact name, mission, membership, and scope have not been finalized.

But at a Tuesday work session, county council president Kate Wiltz announced the intent to form the committee, saying that she wants it to be ”transparent and inclusive in its activities.”

The creation of the new county council committee comes after county commissioners last week suspended meetings of the full community justice response committee (CJRC). Continue reading “Formation of criminal justice fiscal advisory committee mulled by Monroe County council” →

Community justice notebook: County council adopts recommendations on new jail

At its work session on Tuesday night, Monroe County’s seven-member council voted 6–1 to adopt a previously distributed memo “as a reflection of the council’s recommendations for the new jail.”

The image links to a .pdf file of the non-binding memo adopted by the Monroe County council on March 28, 2023.

The three non-binding recommendations in the memo are:

(1) The county council recommends a jail with a bed size of no more than 400.
(2) The county council recommends a jail location as close to existing services as possible.
(3) The justice campus size will be determined by several factors in the future.

Councilor Marty Hawk dissented saying, “I think this is a bit too early… to make that kind of decision that this is the reflection of the entire council.”

The council’s action comes in the context of work being done by an 11-member community justice response committee (CJRC), to make recommendations on a new jail facility for Monroe County.

Making the decisions on location and size of a new facility will be the county commissioners. As the fiscal body of the county, the county council has to approve the funding.

Serving on the CJRC are three county councilors: Kate Wiltz, Jennifer Crossley, and Peter Iversen.

The reason the CJRC was established in the summer of 2021 is reflected in the title of the document adopted by the council on Tuesday night: “Justice Campus Land: Toward a Constitutionally Sound Jail.” Continue reading “Community justice notebook: County council adopts recommendations on new 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” →

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” →

Monroe County sheriff, commissioners square off at committee meeting, ACLU lawyer says: “Look, you need a new jail. Everyone knows that.”

Ruben Marté at the Feb. 20, 2023 CJRC meeting.
From left: Lee Jones, Penny Githens, Julie Thomas at the Feb. 20, 2023 CJRC meeting.
Ken Falk at the Feb. 20, 2023 CJRC meeting.
The pink outline is part of the land owned by Monroe County south of Catalent. The image is from the Pictometry module of the county’s online property lookup system.
Jennifer Crossley at the Feb. 20, 2023 CJRC meeting.
Catherine Stafford at the Feb. 20, 2023 CJRC meeting.
Feb. 20, 2023 CJRC meeting.

The headliner on Monday’s agenda for Monroe County’s community justice response committee (CJRC) meeting was Ken Falk, legal director of the ACLU of Indiana.

Falk is the attorney who filed a lawsuit against the county in 2008, which is still subject to a “private” settlement agreement—so-called only because it’s not a court order. The agreement is not confidential.

Falk’s remarks countered the calls that the committee has heard from several angles, including the group Care Not Cages, against the construction of a new jail.

Falk was blunt: “Look, you need a new jail. Everyone knows that.” He continued, “Back in 2008, when I filed the lawsuit, everyone knew that the jail then was grossly overcrowded.” Monroe County’s jail is not grossly overcrowded now, he said, “thanks to the work of the judges and everyone else in the system.”

Falk also noted that the work of two consultants, released to the county government more than 18 months ago, had described Monroe County’s jail as having “far exceeded its structural and functional life cycle.”

But Falk’s remarks weren’t really a surprise.

Less expected was the display of some friction between new Monroe County sheriff Ruben Marté and county commissioners, which had up to now remained at least partly under the surface. The contentious character of their interactions was in plain view at Monday’s CJRC meeting. Continue reading “Monroe County sheriff, commissioners square off at committee meeting, ACLU lawyer says: “Look, you need a new jail. Everyone knows that.”” →

Monroe County sheriff on racist graffiti in jail cells: “When I see that word…I cannot move slow.”

Monroe County jail intake. An inmate uses a cup as a pillow.
One of two toilets for 20 inmate workers.
Ceiling under an area underneath of the shower and toilet facility in the inmate worker dorm that drips constantly.
Graffiti on a cell wall.
Detritus accumulated between a metal screen and the window.
Ceiling under an area underneath of the shower and toilet facility in the inmate worker dorm that drips constantly.
Monroe County councilor Jennifer Crossley.
From left: Monroe County circuit court judges Catherine Stafford, Darcie Fawcett, Kara Krothe, and Mary Ellen Diekhoff.
Ashley Pirani reads a statement from Monroe County Party chair David Henry at the Jan. 23, 2023 CJRC meeting.
After cleaning: Each person in the intake is now give a pad and a blanket.
After the intake area was cleaned up.
After the intake area was cleaned up.
Monroe County Sheriff Ruben Marté (Jan. 23, 2023)
Monroe County chief deputy sheriff Phil Parker holds a bog of detritus cleaned out from a window ledge that was sandwiched behind a metal grating.

“It looks like that’s not even the United States of America.”

That was Monroe County’s new jail commander Kyle Gibbons talking about a photograph he had displayed for Monday’s meeting of the community justice response committee (CJRC). It was from a slide deck he’d prepared, in order to show committee members conditions inside the jail when he took over at the start of the year.

In the photo, a pitcher of water had been placed on the floor outside a cell door. Jail staff were using it as a stop gap to give inmates water on request—because the water wasn’t working in the cell at the time.

Gibbons told committee members, “The staff was just trying to make sure people had water. …They were trying to ensure that everybody had access to basic human rights.”

But the color of the water inside the pitcher looked sketchy enough that county councilor Peter Iversen asked Gibbons, “That’s drinkable water?!” The glum reply from Gibbons: “That’s drinkable water.”

Monday’s slide deck was a visual followup to oral presentations that Gibbons has given to county commissioners and county councilors in the last couple of weeks.

The visuals he presented on Monday appeared to have a sobering impact on committee members. Continue reading “Monroe County sheriff on racist graffiti in jail cells: “When I see that word…I cannot move slow.”” →

Committee on jail’s future gets tweaks, commander says: “We have an obligation to people here now.”

Monroe County jail commander Kyle Gibbons addresses the county council on Jan. 10, 2023.
Monroe County’s jail is located on the top floors of the Charlotte Zietlow justice center.

In December, Bloomington’s city council unanimously rejected a rezone request for some land in the southwestern tip of the city, where county commissioners had proposed building a new jail.

But planning for the possible construction of a new Monroe County jail continues—as a response to the reports from two consultants delivered to county government 18 months ago. As one of the reports puts it: “The jail facility is failing…”

Still set for Monday (Jan. 23) is the next meeting of the community justice response committee (CJRC). That’s the group that was established by county commissioners to address the problems highlighted in the consultants’ reports.

Even as work continues on planning for the future of Monroe County’s jail, sheriff Ruben Marté’s jail commander, Kyle Gibbons, has addressed both the county council and county commissioners at recent meetings of those elected bodies. His basic message: “We have an obligation to people here now.” Continue reading “Committee on jail’s future gets tweaks, commander says: “We have an obligation to people here now.”” →