Monroe County officials made progress toward beginning construction on the new jail and justice complex Thursday, but not everyone was on the same page.
The Monroe County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the justice complex predesign and authorized the start of the next phase in a joint session with the county council. That was all contractors needed for official approval, but the Monroe County Council continued its discussion on whether to symbolically support moving to the next design phase.
Councilor Kate Wiltz said she would not support it because of specific issues she has with the project, including its higher capacity and lack of specific outdoor recreation space.
“It’s not because I’m anti-jail or anti-law enforcement at all,” Wiltz said.
The council ultimately tabled the vote until their next meeting. Councilor Marty Hawk was not present.
Scott Carnegie and Jeff Hirsch from DLZ, the architect firm designing the jail, and Chris Ciolli from Weddle Brothers, one of the project’s construction companies, presented the predesign to the commissioners and council.
The presentation included a total project cost estimate of $236,947,833, which will be funded by bonds paid for with local income taxes.
Carnegie shared an estimated timeline for the project, which he also presented to the council Tuesday. Construction would start in July next year with the building being “substantially complete” in March 2029.
Carnegie said to “take to heart ‘conceptual’” because the layout will change as the design gets more detailed. The gross square footage of the conceptual design — which includes the areas of all floors within its exterior walls, including inaccessible space — is 271,482 square feet. The current justice facilities are 91,222 square feet, according to the B Square Bulletin.
The new design includes space for 500 inmate beds, more than the 400 beds Wiltz said the council recommended last year.
“I understand it’s not my decision, and you can decide that it’s going to be 500 beds, but to not talk through that when we have these conversations just feels very disrespectful of the council,” Wiltz said.
A feasibility study last April by the RQAW Corporation suggested the facility needed 450-500 beds. The current jail’s capacity is 287, according to Monroe County Sheriff Ruben Marté in a July meeting. In that meeting, Marté told councilors and commissioners even a 400-bed facility could exceed the jail’s functional capacity, which he said was 80% of the total bed count according to the Indiana Office of Corrections.
Functional capacity is the maximum number of inmates to maintain operational effectiveness, and staff and inmate safety and security, according to a 2020 Monroe County Criminal Justice and Incarceration Study.
Of the 500 beds in the new design, 80 would be designated for inmates experiencing mental health issues, 30 for “medical,” 26 for holding, 28 for inmate workers and 336 for general population, Carnegie said.
Monroe County Jail Commander Kyle Gibbons said at the meeting that the current jail doesn’t have beds completely dedicated to medical or mental health, so the jail has to repurpose other cells.
Wiltz asked if inmates would have outdoors access. Carnegie said DLZ discussed with the jail transition team an “indoor-outdoor rec space” which would have a roof and overhead coiling doors that open in good weather conditions.
Carnegie said the jail transition team could also opt to convert the evacuation yard into an outdoor recreation space. He said the indoor-outdoor space is typical in county jails. Wiltz, though, said that’s inadequate for “what’s best for recovery and healing.”
The design also included space for possible future jail expansion. County officials and the contractors discussed other possible developments, like a daycare center for staff with children and a resource center for released inmates, but county officials were wary of adding more costs to the project.
Councilor David Henry questioned if the daycare location would be convenient for the Monroe County workforce and its proximity to the jail. Chief Deputy Phil Parker said there are people in the jail that “are violent and problematic.” He said officers have had confrontations in the alleyway outside, with one officer being severely injured.
“Sometimes evil comes to the doorstep of the sheriff’s office, too,” Parker said.
Parker said officials should consider this before approving a daycare center.
Bloomington resident Seth Mutchler criticized the jail during public comment. He said the money would be better spent in other ways to better Monroe County and that the indoor-outdoor recreation space was “unconscionable.”
“It is shocking to me that it is designed — this compassionate jail that I’ve been hearing talked about — that our inmates will not be able to touch grass,” Mutchler said at the meeting.
Mutchler told the Indiana Daily Student he’s attended dozens of jail-related meetings. He took issue with the increased capacity because he said that will lead to over-incarceration. A smaller jail, Mutchler said, would force the community to get creative with how it best helps people.
“I think it is naive to say anything other than, ‘if you build it, they will fill it,’” Mutchler said.
