Tag: sheriff

New jail: Monroe County council, commissioners hit rough patch, de-appropriation of money mulled

Monroe County’s council, the fiscal body for county government, is looking to send a signal that it’s not pleased with the recent approach the board of county commissioners has taken to the project to build a new county jail.

Monroe County councilors from left: Jennifer Crossley, Trent Deckard, and Kate Wiltz (June 11, 2024)

On Tuesday, councilors took the chance at the start of their regular meeting to express their dissatisfaction that county commissioners have now announced that it’s the county council, as opposed to themselves, who should work with the sheriff to determine the bed count for a planned new jail facility.

Councilors are also not happy because they say that a jail design consultant hired by county commissioners, with money appropriated by the county council, recently declined to provide the council an update.

So on July 9, there could be an item on the council’s agenda that would de-appropriate some of the money that came from a $10.5 million bond, the issuance of which was approved at the Oct. 11, 2022 meeting of the county council. Continue reading “New jail: Monroe County council, commissioners hit rough patch, de-appropriation of money mulled” →

Monroe County adds 4 jail guard positions, adds security duty, drops age from 21 to 18

Four new correctional officer positions have been added to the Monroe County jail staff.

B Square file photo. From left: sheriff’s office financial coordinator,Jordon Miller, chief deputy sheriff Phil Parker, and Monroe County sheriff Ruben Marté. (March 26, 2024)

That move came at the regular Tuesday meeting of the Monroe County council on a unanimous vote.

On a separate vote, the council added one duty to the job description for correctional officers.  That duty includes providing security services at the county courthouse.

The council also lowered the age requirement for correctional officers from 21 to 18 years.

Monroe County sheriff Ruben Marté, chief deputy Phil Parker and jail commander Kyle Gibbons were on hand at the council’s meeting to field any questions.

The four new positions are not related to the six other new jail guard positions that the council approved in late March.  The six new positions approved earlier were connected to Monroe County’s plans to design and build a new jail at a still undetermined location. Continue reading “Monroe County adds 4 jail guard positions, adds security duty, drops age from 21 to 18” →

May 7 primary notebook: Pay for Monroe County Election Day poll workers could get bump

Some election workers who have staffed Monroe County’s polling sites in the past say they won’t work this year unless the pay is increased.

From left: Monroe County attorney Molly Turner-King and election supervisor Kylie Moreland. (April 4, 2024)

That’s the message that county election supervisor Kyle Moreland passed along to the three-member county election board at its regular meeting on Thursday.

Primary Election Day falls on May 7.

Here’s how Moreland put it: “We have some members that have worked in the past that have decided that if there is not a change on the pay, they will not be working this election.”

Election workers have to arrive at the polls at 5 a.m. to open the polls at 6 a.m. Polls don’t close until 6 p.m. That makes for a day that lasts 14 to 15 hours.

The current per diem pay for different jobs breaks down like this: $165 for inspectors; $135 for judges; $135 for clerks; and $115 for sheriffs. Continue reading “May 7 primary notebook: Pay for Monroe County Election Day poll workers could get bump” →

Analysis: Vignettes from candidate forums for county commissioner hopefuls Githens, Madeira, Volan

Both races for Monroe County commissioner are contested this year. In one race, incumbent Democrat Julie Thomas is competing with Peter Iversen for the party’s nomination. Iversen currently serves on the county council.

In the other race, incumbent Democrat Penny Githens is competing for the nomination with Jody Madeira, an Indiana University law professor, and Steve Volan, who lost his re-election bid to the Bloomington city council last year.

For the seat where the Democrats have a three-way primary, the Republicans also have a contested race. Vying for the GOP nomination are Paul White, Sr. and Joe VanDeventer. Continue reading “Analysis: Vignettes from candidate forums for county commissioner hopefuls Githens, Madeira, Volan” →

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” →

Monroe County sheriff fires jail guard who “failed to follow our high standard” in struggle with prisoner

Monroe County sheriff Ruben Marté has fired a guard at the county jail after an altercation with a prisoner, because the guard “failed to follow our high standard requiring de-escalation whenever possible.”

Monroe County Sheriff Ruben Marté addresses the community justice response committee (CJRC) on Jan. 23, 2023.

In the bodycam footage  that was released by the sheriff’s office, as three guards tussle with the prisoner, one of them can be seen throwing punches at the prisoner.

A still frame from that part of the altercation is included below.

According to the news release from the sheriff’s office, the prisoner and the guard were both injured: “One of the corrections officers suffere[d] a split lip and [the prisoner] suffered a fractured nose and orbital bone.”

The bodycam footage, in condensed form  and also in a full-length version, was released along with a statement from Marté around 3 p.m. on Friday.

The incident took place 10 days earlier on Jan. 31. Continue reading “Monroe County sheriff fires jail guard who “failed to follow our high standard” in struggle with prisoner” →

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.”” →

2022 Monroe County primary election results: As available [final unofficial]

The B Square is on site at Election Central at the corner of 7th and Madison streets in downtown Bloomington where the 28 duffel bags from each of today’s polling locations will be deposited by a bipartisan team of poll workers.

cropped i voted IMG_2070

The polls closed at 6 p.m.

Monroe County clerk Nicole Browne has said no results are anticipated until at least 8 p.m.

The B Square will provide status reports here until the final results are announced.

6:26 p.m. Election Central: No precincts have yet arrived with their materials to report in. Monroe County. Election board members are here as well as election supervisor Karen Wheeler.

The election board has three members: the county clerk (Nicole Browne) and one appointee by each of the two major party chairs. The two appointed members are Democrat Shruti Rana; and Republican Donovan Garletts.

Continue reading “2022 Monroe County primary election results: As available [final unofficial]” →

Monroe County campaign finance: 4 races, 17 candidates, $115K

Primary Election Day is May 3.

One limited measure of how much support candidates have among voters is the amount and range of financial contributions to their campaigns so far.

text is "pre-primary campaign finance filings" overlaid on top of a bag with a dollar sign on it

For the 2022 election season in the state of Indiana, pre-primary campaign finance forms were due at noon last Monday, April 18. Those forms are supposed to cover donations and expenditures for the period between Jan. 1, 2022 and April 8, 2022.

The B Square took a look at some of the early campaign finance filings by candidates in four Monroe County races— county commissioner; sheriff; circuit court judge; and recorder.

Those are races that have contested primaries this year for the Democratic Party.

The winner of those races will face a Republican Party candidate in the fall. None of the four races are contested in the Republican Party’s primary. The B Square has included Republican candidates in this roundup, which is compiled in a shared Google Sheet, with links to individual filings.

[Shared Goog Sheet 2020 pre-primary]

The 17 candidates in the four races have raised a combined total of around $115,000.

Counting money raised last year, six candidates for sheriff have raised a combined total of $58,000. The five candidates for judge have raised a combined total of around $28,000. The three candidates for county commissioner have raised a combined total of around $22,300. And the three candidates for county recorder have raised a combined total of around $7,000. Continue reading “Monroe County campaign finance: 4 races, 17 candidates, $115K” →