ANDERSON — The Madison County Jail is relocating some inmates to Blackford County due to overcrowding in the local facility, Madison County Sheriff Scott Mellinger said Tuesday.
Mellinger informed members of the Madison County Council during the 2017 review of the budget that the jail in Hartford City is being used since the inmate numbers in the local facility are not decreasing.
“The numbers are not going to come down,” he said.
Mellinger said the local jail population was at 253 for a facility with a capacity of 207. That means almost 50 inmates are sleeping on the floor, he said.
Following the council session, Mellinger said Blackford County is charging $35 per day for each inmate, which is the amount the county is reimbursed by the state.
He said some jails are charging $40 to $45 daily to house inmates brought in from other counties. Elkhart County is the only jail with available space, he said.
Mellinger said the decision to house inmates in another county is due in part to the condition of the those being incarcerated. He said some inmates are suffering from mental illness and addictions which makes it more difficult for the local facility to handle.
“If the numbers continue to increase, we’ll have to house more inmates in other counties,” Mellinger said.
For several months Mellinger has said that county officials need to start planning for the construction of a new county jail to replace the facility opened in the 1980s.
“We book in 6,000 inmates per year and release 12,000,” he said. “Many have been in the jail several times.”
Mellinger said he has two jail officers to supervise 100 inmates on the weekend.
He requested that the council consider giving jail officers a 5 percent pay increase in 2017 and a 10 percent increase for the four cooks.
“We’re losing jail staff who are leaving for higher paying jobs,” Mellinger said. “We need to do what we can to retain employees,” he said.
In his budget request, Mellinger included a 10 percent pay increase for members of the Fraternal Order of Police, which includes the merit deputies. The FOP is negotiating a new contract with the county.
“That cost can be reduced by $100,000 if the pay increase in the contract is for 5 percent the first year,” he said.
Mellinger said he believes the contract talks between the FOP and the county are close to being finalized.
The council approved $260,000 for the purchase of six new patrol cars in 2017 and to replace laptop computers in the cars.