A consultant this morning submitted a recommendation to the Vigo County Board of Commissioners in which he calls for a 527-bed jail to meet the county's needs through the year 2050.
The new report also recommends the county more than triple its jail staffing, from the current 41 to 180, something county officials say is not affordable.
Planning and construction costs are now estimated at $66 million. That amount does not include financing and operational costs.
The report is called “Vigo County, Indiana, Justice System Assessment Part I,” and it is available online at www.vigocounty.in.gov. It was submitted by Kenneth Ray of RJS Justice Services of Ashland, Kentucky.
Vigo County officials are under legal pressure to do something about conditions and overcrowding at the jail. They are facing two class-action lawsuits and have acknowledged conditions at the overcrowded jail are below par to the point that they’ve become unconstitutional.
Vigo County Jail, per an agreement struck in one of the lawsuits, now can house no more than 268. Inmates beyond that number must be housed at other jails at Vigo County's expense.
County commissioners last year recommended building a new jail, but their funding proposal stalled in the fall when the Vigo County Council did not to act on the commissioners’ request for a 1 percentage point increase in the local income tax.
Commissioners have since returned with a request for a 0.75 percentage point increase in the local income tax.
If approved, that increase will take the county's local income tax rate from the current 1.25 percent rate to 2 percent.
The Vigo County Council has set a public hearing hearing 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1 at the Vigo County Annex. All members of the County Council and Board of Commissioners are expected to attend.
A vote is not expected Aug. 1, and the next scheduled County Council meeting is Aug. 14.