EVANSVILLE — A consulting team’s recommended fix for the overcrowded Vanderburgh County Detention Center is an $89.1-million, 764-bed addition, with a groundbreak in 2020.
County councilors heard about that alternative and four others Wednesday afternoon. All choices would impact local taxpayers.
The funding mechanism for any jail expansion would likely be an income tax called the Correctional Facility Tax. In Indiana, 21 counties including Gibson and Dubois already charge it, and all but two counties do so at the maximum rate, 0.20 percent.
On an income of $50,000, the tax at maximum rate would mean an extra $100 per year.
The 764-bed addition recommended by the consulting team would build two pods with dormitory-style housing, a high-security pod and a juvenile pod.
It would provide Vanderburgh County the ability to house more than 200 federal inmates immediately upon opening.
It also would allow jail staff to properly group inmates according to their offenses and their needs, an issue of concern in the current jail, according to the consultants.
Consultants speaking to the County Council Wednesday were American Structurepoint President Rick Conner and Jennifer Hudson, principal with LWG CPAs and Advisors.
The current jail opened in 2006, and it has 512 beds. Capacity is considered 527, because a few inmates can be housed in the medical area.
Sheriff Dave Wedding said the jail is always filled, creating hazardous conditions for inmates and staff. Vanderburgh County routinely has 200 or so more inmates housed in jails in surrounding counties, and those other counties refuse the most violent offenders.
This is why, according to the consultants, Vanderburgh County taxpayers will take a hit in the coming years even if the jail is not expanded. They said the cost of transporting inmates elsewhere will grow.
Persistent violent crime in Evansville has made the jail crowding problem worse, Wedding said Wednesday.
Another factor is state legislation requiring people convicted of low-level felonies to be housed in county jails rather than state prisons. Councilor Mike Goebel was outspoken on that subject.
“I hope the taxpayer understands what the state of Indiana has done to them,” Goebel said. “We have 176 convicted prisoners in our jail today. It’s not a prison. It’s a county jail, a holding place. We’re getting $21 a day for state prisoners we didn’t have four years ago.
“The people of Vanderburgh County ought to be aware of it,” Goebel continued. “It’s simply not fair. There are elections coming up, and questions ought to be asked (of legislators). They are turning their backs on us. That’s what they’re doing.”
The other four alternatives presented Wednesday called for fewer new jail beds to be constructed, or for the project to be done in two phases, one next year and the next in 2027.
Use of temporary structures was not included in any of the alternatives shown at Wednesday's County Council meeting, and Wedding told councilors he did not like that idea.
"I’m not for that kind of facility to be built on our campus," he said. "What I would like is to build a proper building and take our local unions and give them the jobs. Our unions have been very supportive of Vanderburgh County endeavors.
"We looked further into that, but once you got into all the costs. It’s not nearly as attractive as what they would lead you to believe," Wedding added. "The costs crept up, dramatically. It’s not nearly as strong structurally as a jail, and remember, these are rough people you’re housing."
County Council President Joe Kiefer said county residents will have opportunities to weigh in on the jail project in early 2020. Times and dates aren't set yet, but Kiefer promised public meetings.
"The sooner the better, as far as I'm concerned," he said.
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