Henry County and Madison County are forging new ground with talks to build a regional detention center that would serve both communities.
State lawmakers like the idea. And have no money to help.
Enter the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which might be able to provide more than enough money for the whole thing.
State Representative Tom Saunders (R-Lewisville) authored the law that will let multiple counties work together to solve overcrowding issues in their individual jails by building a larger facility together.
Saunders broke the news last week to Henry and Madison County officials at a combined meeting that they will have to figure out how to pay for such a project without help from the Statehouse.
“I honestly believe the State and certain legislators want one of these constructed somewhere in the state. And they want it to happen correctly,” Saunders said. “I know money is an issue for Henry County. I assume it’s an issue for Madison County, too, with the property tax caps and everything else we have. But at this point, there’s no funding available from the state.”
Indiana lawmakers passed a bill in 2018 that gives county councils the option to institute a 0.2 percent local income tax (LIT) specifically to maintain a current jail or fund a new one.
The Henry County Council has discussed the possible new detention center LIT – in addition to the current Public Safety LIT – but have not taken any action to put the new tax into effect.
Madison County leaders said last week they had not discussed the new tax, but are open to any ideas to raise tax revenue in order to help pay for a multi-million dollar regional facility.
State Senator Mike Gaskill (R-Pendleton) said the two counties could also consider hiring a private company, like GEO, to construct and operate the facility.
Gaskill said he hopes there is a way to build a regional detention center without raising taxes on local residents.
Henry County Commissioner and former Sheriff Kim Cronk told the assembled county officials it is important to detain people who have broken the law, or who have only been accused of breaking the law, but any combined operation would have to be more than a place to “warehouse future inmates.”
Cronk said the two counties need to also find a way to address any mental health and substance abuse needs their citizens have that landed them in jail in the first place.
“I think the overall objective is not to send everybody away and have to house them in a jail... It’s to provide our community and our citizens with assistance if they do have these issues,” Cronk said. “I’d hate to going saying ‘We’re going to build a jail.’ Because that’s not our primary focus. Detention is important, but helping our citizens is, also.”
How the USDA could help
One of the biggest factors in the overcrowding issue is drug and alcohol abuse, whether it is in Henry or Madison County.
Henry County Sheriff Ric McCorkle estimated 80-90 percent of the people in his jail are there because of some form of substance abuse. Madison County Sheriff Scott Mellinger reported similar numbers.
The federal government has a program through the USDA)designed to battle drug addiction in rural America.
Michael Dora, the State Director for USDA Rural Development in Indiana, said the new Farm Bill provides money for community facilities.
“We have enough funding to do what it is you want to,” Dora said.
Dora said the federal government is focusing on recovery efforts that get people back into the workforce while, at the same time, helping them get off the drugs and alcohol that landed them in jail in the first place.
“I think you can reduce the size of this jail quite a bit if you really concentrate on the people that are going to be in recovery,” Dora said. “You are going to fix their life, you’re going to cure them of the disease, get them back into the mainstream of society. If you put them in a jail, I don’t think that’ll happen.”
Dora suggested Madison and Henry County actually build three new buildings: two substance abuse recovery facilities (one for men and one for women) in Henry County and a large detention center in Madison County.
The USDA would loan the counties enough money to build the facilities, Dora said. The loan could also be spread out over 40 years, so it would be a lower impact on taxpayers over a longer period of time, which might be more palatable for residents’ pocketbooks.
Dora said the USDA funds can only be used by government or non-profit agencies. That means Henry and Madison would not be able to hand the new facility off to a private company. Also, the federal loans would not pay operating costs like salaries and benefits.
Officials considered that savings from the USDA loan rates could make up for higher employment and inmate transportation costs over the long-term.
Henry County Council members said they would talk with Sheriff McCorkle to get a better projection of what those numbers might look like over the next four decades.
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