Size now the focus of Vigo County jail debate

Commissioner Jon Marvel says the size of the proposed jail is prudent given an increase in violent crime in the Hoosier state and the increasing crowding of Indiana county jails that results.

Further, he says, Vigo County's history dictates county officials not repeat a past error: designing and building a new jail to fit the present inmate population only to very soon learn they're going to need more space.

"Former Sheriff Andy Atelski, when a new jail was built [in 1980], had to weld two more beds in each cell house" to accommodate prisoners, Marvel said. "Automatically, we were outside the guidelines of the state Department of Corrections."

It happened again when that jail was expanded in 2001. Even with the additional space, a court imposed a cap of 268 inmates, said Marvel, a former county sheriff. The county now routinely houses its overflow prisoners, often about five dozen on a given day, in other counties' jails at Vigo County's expense.

"We are not going to do that this time," Marvel said of underestimating space needs.

A federal lawsuit filed by Indianapolis attorney Michael Sutherlin on behalf of county inmates questions the jail's condition and overcrowding. It has led county officials to conclude a new jail is the best way to meet constitutional standards.

Commissioners are seeking a new facility with a minimum of 432 beds. A new jail could also have an additional 100 beds for intake, detention and specialized treatment activities, as well as space for additional future jail cells.

A group of Vigo County citizens say a new jail should be smaller, housing closer to 360 beds, based on current population trends. A smaller jail also means less cost. Estimates currently have a new Vigo County jail costing at least $60 million, not including financing.

Nationally, incarceration down

Brian Bunnett, associate librarian at Indiana State University and head of the university's public services department, is among a group questioning statistics cited for the size of a new county jail. Bunnett said nationwide, crime is on a decline.

Bunnett points to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, which indicate the national incarcerated population in 2015 (2,173,800) fell to the lowest levels since 2004 (2,136,600). And an estimated 721,300 inmates were confined in county jails nationally on an average day in 2015, down from the peak of 776,600 inmates on an average day in 2008.

Those statistics indicate about 68 percent of jail inmates in 2015 were held for a felony offense, and the remaining 32 percent were held for either misdemeanor (27 percent) or other offenses (5 percent), according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Bureau of Justice Statistics also show that Indiana's county jail population is decreasing, falling to 27,355 in 2015, down from 29,271 in 2014.

"These sources indicate that national crime statistics continue to decline," Bunnett said. "They also demonstrate that the number of persons incarcerated in prisons and jails is decreasing. I sincerely believe that it is in our best interests as a community to try to be part of this trend. And that requires that we agree on effective measures to decrease the flow of prisoners into our jail and increase the flow out of it."

Bunnett suggest county officials consider alternatives, including hiring more county court personnel to move cases -- and people -- through courts faster.

"The county commissioners' sole focus on building a huge new jail does nothing to address the root causes of the problem," he said.

"We need to explore alternatives such as not jailing perpetrators of low level offenses such as marijuana possession and shoplifting; hiring more prosecutors, public defenders, bailiffs, and court reporters so that cases are moved through the system more expeditiously, diverting low level offenders to Community Corrections; and partnering with community groups to treat offenders with drug, alcohol, and mental health issues outside of the jail," Bunnett said. "These are low-cost alternatives likely to be more effective than treating these offenders within the jail itself." 

Additionally, Bunnett referred to a state court mandate, Rule 26, which calls for sentencing alternatives to allow lesser offenders to make bail. That rule has been suspended by the Indiana Supreme Court until 2020 to allow more data collection.

Violent crime in Indiana

While Indiana jail populations declined in 2015, crime trends fluctuate, said David Rardin, a retired regional director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons and a consultant to Vigo County.

Indiana's jail population peaked in 2013 at 29,913 and Indiana county jail populations had largely been on the increase since 2007, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Indiana has also seen an increase in its violent crime rate since 2007 — which was 335.8 crimes per 100,000 population — expand in 2014 to 365.3 violent crimes per 100,000, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics, Rardin said.

Crime rates fluctuate, Rardin said, especially as federal policies change. Rardin pointed to Attorney General Jeff Session who has indicated he plans to increase penalties on prosecuting drug crimes. Additionally, it is difficult to expect what will happen with future drug problems in Indiana and nationwide.

"What we don't have yet is the rate of heroin-related crime statistics in Vigo County," Rardin said. Additionally, Indiana county jails have been holding low-level felony offenders for a year, which is not enough time to show a trend in higher jail retention rates, he said.

By moving low-level felony offenders to county jails, Rardin said Indiana is the only state so far to adopt a model used in California, which makes it mandatory for low-level offenders to serve criminal sentences in county jails. It is an attempt to reduce the costs and need for additional prison space at the state level, Rardin said.

Looking at the city level crime rates, Terre Haute's robbery, assault and rape rates are higher than national rates, Rardin said. He referred to neighborhoodscout.com, which indicates Terre Haute's assault rate is 1.12 per 1000, versus 2.38 per 1000 nationally; robbery at 1.13 per 1000, versus 1.02 per 1,000 nationally; and 0.46 per 1000 for rape, versus 0.39 per 1,000 nationally.

"This all points to the fact that the size of the jail at 432 beds is not an overreach in terms of building for a 20-year investment in a facility," Rardin said.

Vigo not alone

Commissioner Brad Anderson said DLZ Architects/Engineering, which is designing the new jail, has contracts in 14 Indiana counties for new jails, adding that statewide, 32 counties in total are either expanding or designing new jails to accommodate more people.

Commissioner President Judith Anderson said with 432 beds, the county, under state jail regulations, would be required to have 20 percent of those available for the separation process, including intake, detention and specialized treatment activities. That would leave little room for the county to rent out open bed space for state or federal agencies, which actually produces revenue.

"If we have the 100 beds up front for separation, we could do that and that would make sense. But I don't know if we will have 100 beds up front as we are trying to cut things down" in price, Anderson said. "We are still in the design process."

Current cost projections for the new jail run about $60 million, not including financing.

Marvel said county jails are the first place where people are taken when arrested by state or federal police.

"If a federal agency arrests somebody, they go into county jails first," Marvel said. "They are held there until federal court."

"With all due respect to the people who come to our meetings and are very vocal about the size of the jail or even building a new jail, I know what condition this jail is in because I ran this jail [as a former Vigo County sheriff], and we need a new jail," Marvel said.

Bunnett said he thinks county officials need to do more.

County officials, he said, "need to demonstrate leadership and that means bringing all the interested parties together to find a workable solution to this issue. To do anything else is an abdication of their responsibility to the community. Building a massive new jail is not a panacea; it shows a serious failure of imagination on their part.

"Alternatives need to be explored, analyzed, and acted upon. Money needs to be saved. They can play an instrumental role in leading this effort, in coordinating and organizing our activities, and in building consensus and agreement," Bunnett said.